Shopsydoo accuses Grammy Award organisers of exploiting Nigerian artists for marketing purposes

NIGERIAN-British media personality Adesope Olajide popularly known as Shopsydoo has accused the organisers of the Annual Grammy Awards of exploiting Nigerian artists for promotional purposes.

Last night, the 66th version of the awards held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, with a huge Nigerian presence on the shortlist. Burna Boy, Davido, Ayra Starr, Asake and Olamide, all of whom were nominated in various categories, failed to secure wins on the night, leaving Nigeria with no winner to celebrate.

Shopsydoo took to social media to state that the Recording Academy, who organises the awards, lacks regard for African music. He highlighted the instance of the Grammy band playing Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s Water after the announcement of South African singer Tyla’s Water as the winner of the inaugural Best African Music Performance category, as evidence of the Grammy’s disconnect from African music.

Furthermore, Shopsydoo urged African musicians, particularly Nigerian artistes, to boycott the Grammy awards in the future. He cited  dissatisfaction with the academy’s understanding and appreciation of African culture.

Shopsydoo said: “Tyla’s Water was announced as winner but the band was playing Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s Water while somebody that has a different Water was walking on to the stage. If you want to know about an organisation that has no clue, the Grammy has no clue.

“They have no clue, they know nothing about our culture and we shouldn’t be wasting our energy there. These bums gave Tyla’s Water an award and they are playing Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s Water in the background. Is that an organisation that understands us? They don’t care about us."

He further criticized the Grammy’s approach, accusing them of exploiting African talent for their own promotional gain. He highlighted the heavy promotion of Davido by the Grammy platform and the subsequent disappointment faced by Burna Boy and Davido despite multiple nominations.

Shopsydoo  added: “They just want to use us for promotion. One billion people in Africa, they want us to continue to sell the Grammy. I’m telling you for a fact, they used Davido heavily to promote their platform.

"They rely hugely on the incredible numbers and eyes that Nigeria and Africa bring and they used our artists. They announced one of the greatest artists of our time, Burna Boy as a performer which got us all excited.  They nominated Burna Boy four times, they nominated Davido three times, but they knew that they were going to F them up.”