Ahead of the 66th grammy awards, the organisers of the annual music awards ceremony has announced some changes. They have added three new categories and moved some existing categories to the general field.

The included three categories are Best African Music Performance, Best Alternative Jazz Album and Best Pop Dance Recording while the existing categories moved to general field are Producer of the year, Non-classical and Songwriter of the year.

According to the event organisers, their action was well thought out, as the category additions and amendments were voted on and passed at the Recording Academy’s most recent semiannual Board of Trustees meeting, which was held last month.

Harvey Mason Jr, the Recording Academy, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said in a Tuesday statement that the new categories inclusion was done to represent the diverse range of relevant musical genres, including African music.

The excited Mason said:

“The Recording Academy is proud to announce these latest category changes to our award process. These changes reflect our commitment to actively listen and respond to the feedback from our music community, accurately represent a diverse range of relevant musical genres, and stay aligned with the ever-evolving musical landscape.”

The category which covers African music is expected to utilise unique local expressions from across the African continent and will cover: Afro-fusion, Afro Pop, Afrobeats, Alte, Amapiano, Bongo Flava, Genge, Kizomba, Chimurenga, High Life, Fuji, Kwassa, Ndombolo, Mapouka, Ghanaian Drill, Afro-House, South African Hip-Hop, and Ethio Jazz genres.