Winning Grammy is not a big deal –DJ Jimmy Jatt

Jatt

Foremost Nigerian DJ, Jimmy Jatt, has inferred that winning the highly coveted Grammy award shouldn’t be a priority for Nigerian artists.

For years now, many Nigeria-based artists have expressed their desire to win a Grammy awards or awards, but so far, none has been able to do it.

9ice boasted in his song, Street Credibility, that he’ll do so, but he hasn’t even ever been nominated.

King Sunny Ade and Femi Anikulapo-Kuti have been nominated, though, but they didn’t win.

For some time now, the discourse about a Nigeria-based artist winning it died down until it was revived this year because Timaya was a nominee at this year’s Grammys.

Sadly, he failed too.

And it further highlights Nigeria’s failure in this regard as Nigeria’s main rival on the continent, South Africa, has had at least one of its home-based artists win a Grammy.

So, speaking with OSEYIZA OOGBODO BLOG recently, OOB asked JJ why he feels a Nigeria-based musician artist has not won the Grammy, and his reply was a bit of a shocker.

“For me, I mean, I’m always quick to ask why everybody is aiming for the Grammy. Because, first of all, primarily, Grammy, it might be a global award but it’s essentially an American award, you know, so I feel like, men, you know, it’s not wrong to aim at getting it, but primarily, understand that it’s an American award, and your music, or you as an artist, must cut across within that American space, you understand what I’m saying?

“So even if you’re in the world category, it would be that you’ve cut across the American music space. So really it’s not, it’s not, I don’t think, you know, because it’s old, and Americans have given it that respect, and placed where it is, that’s why everybody from elsewhere is aiming for the Grammy.

“I always feel like if we support our own award organizers in Nigeria and develop it to a level that’s respected, and you know, people aspire to win a topmost Nigerian music award, then we’ll have something that we can say this is our own brand. But the unfortunate thing about Nigerians, or really us as Africans is that the colonial mentality has not left us.

“So, as far as something is from the western world, it is seen as, you know, validation of what you’re doing. So, the one for us by us is never appreciated. And people will continue to look down on anything that we do here as against supporting it and letting it grow to that extent.”

Well said, Jim.