On November 16, 2022 - social media and traditional media platforms were awash with rather exhilarating news that Ugandan musician Edrisah Musuuza, alias Eddy Kenzo, had been nominated for the Recording Academy Awards, also known as the Grammy's.
While this was a shocker, owing to the pedigree of the awards, with many regarding them as the holy grail of music awards, avid followers of Kenzo claimed to have seen it coming.
For an artist who had just become the first Ugandan musician to bag a Black Entertainment Television (BET) Award in 2015, a Grammy nomination was just bound to happen, many said.
Kenzo got nominated for "Gimme Love", a song he recorded with American singer/songwriter Mathew David Benson, better known as Matt B. While Matt B had not been known to many
Ugandans, it is without any doubt that he is a formidable musician, whose 2021 Eden album debuted on Top 40 Billboard R&B charts, last year.
Matt B is also married to Angella V Benson, a music producer, artiste manager, Grammy nominee and a Professional Member of the Recording Academy/Grammys. With this track record, Kenzo could have just been nominated with an artist who knows a thing or two about being at this stage.
But what exactly would it take to bring the Grammy home?
When news broke that Kenzo and Matt B had been nominated in the Best Global Music performance category, quickly, many paid attention to the other nominees in this category.
The category includes nominees like Burna Boy's Last Last, Udhero Na by Arooj Aftab and Anoushka Shankar, Neva Bow Down by Rocky Dawuni Featuring Blvk H3ro, and Bayethe by Wouter Kellerman, Zakes Bantwini & Nomcebo Zikode.
At first glance on these nominees, your mind will swiftly think of what magic Kenzo and Matt B, including the other nominees, need to do, if they are to beat Burna Boy at this Grammy.
Not only has the African Giant had such a good year, but the song “Last Last” as well. In fact, many, including music critic Jenkins Mukasa, have argued that this would be a David versus Goliath battle; Goliath being the rest of the nominees and David being Burna Boy. Yeah, he has been that good this year.
For numerical context, “Last Last” has so far received 135 million views on YouTube against Gimme Love's 866,000, with both Kenzo and Matt B's channels combined.
Away from numbers, however, one would still ask what exactly it would take for a nominee to edge a particular category. Firstly, people's choices are out of the question, as this is a purely peer-voted award, with a technically selected membership of voters.
According to the Recording Academy, the voters only select and vote in the fields and categories in which they operate day-to-day.
The voters or academy also make their choices based entirely on the artistic and technical merits of an eligible song or artist. This, according to Joseph Batte, a music critic and arts writer, may be a lifeline to Kenzo and the rest of the nominees because then it goes down to how good a song is technically, before considering its numerical strength.
However, others have argued that in light of the category in which “Gimme Love” is nominated, “Last Last” may still have an edge due to its unrivalled global appeal. This is where the numbers will come back to take away from Kenzo and Matt B's chances at scooping the award.
"Usually, artistes whose music tops charts or ranks highest always stand a chance in winning such awards, especially when it comes to international categories. I think Matt B and Kenzo did not do much in terms of pushing this song further," said Batte
Speaking about numbers and charts, while “Gimme Love '' ranked 36 on US Afro-beats Billboard charts, “Last Last” ranked number one on the same charts. If this does not scare Kenzo and the rest of the nominees, then nothing should.
Kelsey McKinney, a Vox Magazine writer, also attributes one's chances at a Grammy to their album or song's appeal to the United States market. With Matt B's nationality being American, one would quickly imagine that his song would have an edge here. However, “Last Last” still comes off as the most promoted song in the US market, in this particular category.
Two days after its release, Burna Boy performed “Last Last” at the 2022 Billboard Music awards in the US.
But ultimately, as highlighted earlier, one's best shot at winning a Grammy is usually hinged on the song's technical prowess. And often times, technicalities hinge from the production of the song.
Gimme Love, originally done by Matt B, was remixed to feat Kenzo and this production was done by Ugandan producer Steyn, who was also nominated. While his work on the song cannot go unappreciated, “Last Last” by Burna Boy still boasts of a wealth of experience in terms of production.
The song, which sample's American vocalist Toni Braxton's "He Wasn't Man Enough", was produced by Mikael and Samuel Haataja, commonly known as Off and Out, Chopstix, MdS, and Ruuben.
On May 13, it was released through international label - Atlantic Records. Owing to this might, Ugandan producer Nase Avatar, says, "Not to downplay the local producer who worked on Kenzo's song, I think it would be pretense not to appreciate the work put in the making of Burna Boy's song and, in fact, some of the other songs in the same category.”
“I think, in the end, this should be a learning opportunity for our local producers, to challenge themselves for global markets," he adds.
The 65th Grammy Awards are slated for tonight, at the Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena, in Los Angeles, California. With all this in play, the big question that further remains is – Will Uganda’s golden boy Eddy Kenzo bring the Grammy home? Let us watch the space!
