Three-time Grammy winner Ricky Kej has shared his thoughts on the debate surrounding the Grammys’ recognition of Asian music, particularly after BTS decided not to submit their music for Grammy consideration this year.
In an exclusive interview with NDTV’s Hardika Gupta, Kej, who has won three Grammys and received four nominations, clarified that he has not experienced the Grammys “from the inside” but has submitted his music for consideration himself.
‘I Was Not In Favour Of Best Asian Pop Performance Category’
Ricky Kej said he was not in favour of the creation of the Best Asian Pop Performance category, arguing that it could prevent Asian artists from being considered alongside artists in categories that have traditionally held greater significance.
He said, “I’ve not experienced the Grammys from the inside as such, but just like everybody else, I submit my music for the Grammys, and fortunately I have won three times, and I have been nominated four times. But having said that, I don’t have any inside information. Still, I was not in favour of the creation of the new Best Asian Pop Performance category simply because I felt that it is sort of excluding Asian artists from categories which are considered to be more historically significant.”
Kej further explained his concern by comparing the category to a separate space where Asian artists can be recognised without necessarily being placed alongside artists from other regions.
“Because it’s almost like the Grammy saying that you can win an award, you can be celebrated, but in your own corner, in your own Asian category corner and can be celebrated, but not on the table with everybody else,” he said.
‘Grammys Need Cultural Sensitivity’
According to Kej, the Grammys could either function as a US-based music awards institution or position itself as an awards body representing the wider global music industry. He said the approach would determine how music from different parts of the world should be assessed.
“And that is because the Grammys obviously have two choices. One is to call themselves a United States national award, which is a very respectable stance in itself, and award different categories based on their prominence within America. Like, for example, they can award Asian music based on how it fares in America, or African music based on how it fares in America,” Kej said.
“But if they are calling themselves an arbitrator for the entire musical world, for the entire world of music, then I feel that there needs to be some amount of reforms and there needs to be some amount of cultural sensitivity, and even regional sensitivity, in terms of what constitutes Asian music.”
Ricky Kej Questions Focus On Asian Pop Music
Kej also raised concerns about how musical excellence is assessed, particularly when it comes to Asian music. He pointed out that the Grammys are meant to recognise musical excellence rather than simply commercial performance.
“Since it’s an award for musical excellence and not for charts, not for sales and streams and charting ability of the music, I believe that it’s quite odd that only pop forms of music, that is, forms of Asian music that actually conform to American styles of production, like Asian music which is more American sounding in terms of pop, that’s the only kind of music that they would award,” he said.
He argued that traditional forms of music from across Asia also deserve recognition for their musicianship and technical skill.
He shared, “Whereas the traditional forms of music of Asia, whether it is India or Korea or China or, you know, the Middle East or, you know, all of these different Asian countries, I feel that the traditional forms of music and the traditional musicians are so skilled, and their musical ability and their improvisation ability are far exceeding that of the musicians in the West, and they are not being awarded, but just the pop forms of music, just because it sounds more palatable to the West.”
Kej concluded by saying that musical genres should not be restricted by geographical or cultural boundaries.
“I believe that music should be music, and if music has to be defined by genres, then the genres need to cut across all regional, cultural and traditional divides,” he concluded.
