By Carlos Passage
The deadline for submitting recordings for the newly created Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance is August 29th.
A significant number of musicians, especially Afrobeats musicians, are excited about the possibility of being nominated and, of course, winning and becoming internationally recognized at the upcoming Grammy Awards, which will be presented on February 1, 2026, in Los Angeles.
This week, I COLOR RADIO ATLANTA is highlighting QRITIQAL, a Kenyan-born singer with one of the most explosive and inspiring African songs of the year: “Roll Dat,” who will surely be a key contender for this year’s African Grammy nominations.
QRITIQAL is aiming to win a Grammy, and his art is already sparking interest in Europe, the United States, and Latin America. He is part of the Colombian record label Cuaryen, based in Cali, and has already recorded with some of the company’s Latin artists, such as Jossman, the King of Afrobeats in Colombia, rising star Lil Keren, and veteran Salsa singer, songwriter, and producer Marino Luis.
QRITIQAL with Jossman
QRITIQAL with Lil Keren
QRITIQAL with Marino Luis
QRITIQAL is a lover of Dancehall and Reggae, and his music is a synthesis of cultures, fusing the vibrant rhythms of Jamaican music with the indigenous sounds of his home country, Kenya.
His impeccable voice and imposing stage presence also imprint an irresistible intensity on his concerts.
It’s impossible to ignore QRITIQAL’s influence on the Kenyan music scene. He has become a guiding light for emerging musicians, creating a captivating listening experience that transcends borders, uniting fans from all corners of the globe with his infectious energy and poignant lyrics.
ABOUT AFROBEATS AND CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN MUSIC
In the last 20 years, the most successful contemporary music from Africa has been Afrobeats, a genre that has managed to penetrate the industry thanks to brilliant cross-cultural collaborations with Western superstars like Beyoncé, Drake, and Ed Sheeran. In 2022, and as a vote of confidence in the genre, Billboard released its weekly chart of the 50 most popular Afrobeats songs in the United States, which has put the genre at the center of the global music ecosystem.
The arrival of the Billboard chart came two years after the Official Charts Company launched the official Afrobeats chart in the United Kingdom, the country where the genre truly took off and developed thanks to a wonderful wave of pioneering African immigrant musicians, especially from Nigeria and Ghana.
London became the European capital of Afrobeats in the 2000s and 2010s, and its fusion of Hiplife, Jùjú music, Highlife, Azonto music, and African Naija Beats with Hip Hop, Rap, Pop, Dancehall, R&B, and Dance sparked the phenomenon the world is experiencing today.
Last year, the Recording Academy introduced the Best African Music Performance category, following in the footsteps of the MTV Video Music Awards and the American Music Awards, which had already handed out awards for the genre one and two years earlier, respectively: Best Afrobeats Video at the MTV Awards and Favorite Afrobeats Artist at the American Music Awards.
The magical polyrhythms and syncopations, the romantic, festive, and sociopolitical lyrics sung in Yoruba, Nigerian Pidgin, and English have made Afrobeats the world’s trendiest rhythm, and the craze is spreading every day in Latin America.
