SA: DJ Lag considered for Grammy nomination

DJ Lag's album is being reviewed for the Best World Music Album category, which honours artists in the world music genre. The nominees for next year's awards ceremony will be announced on 20 November.

“I am proud to be representing in this specific category,” DJ Lag told Music In Africa. “This is a category that has had some great nominees over the years. To be considered is already an honour and to be nominated is a great responsibility too."

DJ Lag, who is signed to Black Major agency, added: "It's in the hands of the voters [the Recording Academy] now and I can only hope that they believe in this music and what it means for South Africa to be represented through a genre so unique and not commercial in the most obvious way.”

Grammy Award consideration explained

To be considered for a 2020 Grammy nomination, the Recording Academy recognises recordings released between 1 October 2018 and 31 August 2019. The recordings have to be commercially available via a distribution channel or a digitally recognised streaming platform like Spotify and Apple Music.

Black Major media manager and strategist Shiba Melissa Mazaza said in order to be considered for a Grammy nomination, one has to be a member of the Recording Academy.

“The Grammy Awards are a peer-reviewed platform, keeping things legitimate in terms of leaving the voting up to music industry professionals who have the expertise to be able to create, analyse and vouch for quality music,” she said. “No one needs to vote at this stage, you can just submit the music as long as it meets the requirements. This committee are the ones who will decide who makes it up the chain, but there's no way to know who exactly is on it.

“But it helps to have insider support, or a fan of your music already on the committee, which is something Lag didn't know he had until one of the members reached out and asked him to submit. Once you've submitted your entry, you'll need to wait to find out if you're eligible for consideration which is the first ballot. If you qualify for that, that's where the fun begins.”

Mazaza said Black Major had started campaigning for DJ Lag but insisted that “there are strict guidelines about how to go about this without tainting the voting process. As you can see it's very stripped down, without too much embellishment, focusing on facts rather than hard selling.

“In the US specifically, you'll see billboards and magazine ads taken out with 'For Your Consideration' written across them. This is obviously very expensive should you choose to go that route, but necessary, because as I said, no one knows for sure who is on the voting committee, so getting as much exposure out into the world in general is important.”

Meanwhile, Nigerian singer Yemi Alade has also been considered for a Grammy nomination. “We are up for Grammy Award consideration. Reaching out to all voting members of the Recording Academy to consider my album Woman of Steel for Best World Music Album. This has been an incredible project and I would love to celebrate it with all of you,” Alade wrote on Instagram.

The 62nd edition of the Grammy Awards will be held at Staples Center in Los Angeles on 26 January.