Wiyaala has officially been accepted for the GRAMMYS 2022 New Member Class, weeks after the Recording Academy extended an invitation to her.
In his annual address on Friday, September 9, Recording Academy President and CEO Harvey Mason Jr. announced the announcement and welcomed almost 2,000 different performers, including the Ghanaian afropop singer-songwriter, to the organization. She has the chance to support, honor, and appreciate music and its creators through the membership.
A new report that was released in conjunction with the announcement states that 47% of the inductees this year are under the age of 40, 32% are women, and 44% are people of color. A new member’s ability to withhold any demographic data resulted in 16% withholding their gender, 13% withholding their age, and 24% withholding their self-reported ethnicity.
“We now actively recruit prospective members and we extend invitations to people who will help us have a more diverse, engaged, and relevant membership base,” Mason said during the session. “We strive for diversity not merely to give certain groups of people or musical genres space at the table [that has been] historically denied them—though that’s definitely part of our motivation. The truth is whenever you have diverse inputs into a decision-making process, you tend to arrive at better outcomes.”
“After years of listening, learning, and putting in the work, we’re beginning to see results of our efforts to diversify the Academy’s membership come to life,” Mason said in a statement shared with Pitchfork. “Our members are the lifeblood of this organization, powering everything we do from the inside out. When we have diverse people representing all corners of the industry contributing unique perspectives, progress is achieved at a rapid pace. The journey is just beginning, and I can’t wait to work alongside our new and existing members to build on the Academy’s commitment to effecting real, meaningful change.”
Wiyaala is from the Upper West Region of Ghana’s Funsi. After winning two VGMAs and three AFRIMAs, she started her solo career in 2013, and a year later, she put out her self-titled debut album. Her second album, Sissala Goddess, was released in 2018.
Additionally, she performs with the worldwide girl group GRRRL. She and Shatta Wale shared the lead role for this year’s SummerStage festival, which took place outdoors in New York City in August.
Nearly 3000 individuals, including British artist Tiana Major9, Nigerian-American talent manager Jonathan Azu, Jamaican reggae musician Skip Marley, and Ghanaian dancehall and reggae singer Stonebwoy, were inducted into the Recording Academy last year. Two musicians from Nigeria, DJ Spinall and Bankulli, as well as DJ and producer Juls, a British-Ghanaian, all joined the academy in 2020.
