Singer Eddy Kenzo is already in Los Angeles for the Grammy Awards ceremony due this Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena.
Kenzo was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of “Best Global Music Performance” for his “Gimme Love” collaboration with US musician Matt B.
Kenzo and Matt B are facing off against Nigerian Afropop musician Burna Boy (Last Last), Arooj Aftab and Anoushka Shankar (Udhero Na), Rocky Dawuni and Blvk H3ro (Neva Bow Down), and Wouter Kellerman, Zakes Bantwini, and Nomcebo Zikode (Bayethe).
Will Kenzo win the award?
Unlike other awards where the public is involved in the voting process, for the Grammys, only Recording Academy voting members are eligible to vote. This means that Grammys winners are determined by the artists’, musicians’, songwriters’, and producers’ peers.
According to the academy, the voters only select and vote in the fields and categories in which they operate day-to-day.
In this instance, Matt B is wed to Angella V Benson, a music producer, artist manager, Grammy nominee, and professional member of the Recording Academy/Grammys.
Even so, this is not enough to win Kenzo the prize. His biggest threat is Burna Boy, who has consistently been at this stage.
This is Burna Boy’s third Grammy nomination in a row for Best Global Music Performance. Also, in 2021, he won the award for “Best Global Music Album” for his 2020 album, Twice as Tall.
His song Last Last has received 158 million YouTube views, compared to Gimme Love’s 630,000.
‘Last Last’ debuted at number 86 on the Billboard Top 100. By October 2022, the song was ranked number 2.
On the other hand, “Gimme Love” was recorded in October 2021 and issued as a single on March 4, 2022, internationally. It entered the chart at number 49. The song peaked at number 36 on the Billboard US Afrobeats Songs chart in November 2022.
Despite the fact that these statistics do not appear to be in Kenzo’s favor, he surprised many in 2015 by winning the Black Entertainment Television (BET) Award for the viewer-selected category of “Best New International Artist.”
Kenzo became the first Ugandan artiste to ever win a BET Award. The category was decided by fans who helped Kenzo beat South Africa’s Cassper Nyovest, Ghana’s Mz Vee, and three musicians from the UK in George The Poet, MIC Lowry, and Novelist to the award.
He has also won several other international awards that include; a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award in 2018, and multiple All Africa Music Awards.
“If I win, it is an honor to my fans, my culture, and all those that have touched my life,” said Kenzo upon his arrival in Los Angeles.
Kenzo’s Sunday should go well, because we in Uganda want it to.