Could Vybz Kartel or Davido Win Their First Grammys This Year?

In 2023, the Recording Academy announced the launch of a new category: best African music performance. With over 30 different genres qualifying for the category, including Afropop, alté, fuji, high life and amapiano, the category — now in its second year — seeks to honor “recordings that utilize unique local expressions from across the African continent, highlighting regional melodic, harmonic and rhythmic musical traditions,” according to the Recording Academy.

In the wake of the Stateside African music crossover wave of the early 2020s, the Academy correctly recognized that it was beyond time to demarcate and honor those styles properly. Last year, Tyla‘s “Water,” which reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, was the inaugural victor. She beat out global hits from Ayra Starr (“Rush”), Davido and Musa Keys (“Unavailable”), Burna Boy (“City Boys”) and Asake and Olamide (“Amapiano”). Hopefully, the success of this category spurs the academy to erect a similar category for contemporary Caribbean music. Currently, the region’s myriad styles — including dancehall, soca, calypso, konpa, bouyon and more — all compete in best reggae album.

Following a series of devastating fires, the 67th annual Grammy Awards will proceed live on CBS on Feb. 2 as a fundraiser to help the greater Los Angeles area rebuild.

This year, a few of the world’s biggest stars across reggae, dancehall and Afrobeats could potentially go home with their very first Grammys. Some key potential first-time winners include dancehall king and recent Billboard cover star Vybz Kartel, dancehall-pop sensation Shenseea, and African music stars Asake, Rema, Davido, Lojay and Yemi Alade.

From global smashes (“Sensational”) to hit movie soundtracks (Bob Marley: One Love), this year’s global music categories showcase the beauty of the world’s countless genres across generations.

Here are our best guesses for who will win in select global music categories.