Grammys rename World Music category due to connotations of colonialism

The Recording Academy has announced that the Best World Music Album at the Grammy Awards has been renamed. The award will henceforth be called Best Global Music Album.

“As we continue to embrace a truly global mindset, we update our language to reflect a more appropriate categorization that seeks to engage and celebrate the current scope of music from around the world,” the Recording Academy noted in a statement. “Over the summer we held discussions with artists, ethnomusicologists, and linguists from around the world who determined that there was an opportunity to update the best world music album category toward a more relevant, modern, and inclusive term.

"The change symbolizes a departure from the connotations of colonialism, folk, and ‘non-American’ that the former term embodied while adapting to current listening trends and cultural evolution among the diverse communities it may represent.”

Earlier this year, the Grammys announced that Best Urban Contemporary Album would be change to Best Progressive R&B Album. The word “urban” was removed from the Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album category, while Latin Pop was redubbed Latin Pop and Urban.

This year, the award for Best Global Music Album went to Angélique Kidjo. In previous years, it has been given to the likes of Yo-Yo Ma, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Tinariwen, Gipsy Kings, Ravi Shankar, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, the Chieftains, and more.

• Feature image of last year's winner Angélique Kidjo.