Grammy award is a done deal — Blakk Rasta

Although Reggae artiste, Blakk Rasta, is yet to be nominated for a Grammy award, the Barack Obama hitmaker says winning a Grammy award is a done deal.

His current and eighth album, Kuchoko Revolution distributed globally by VP Records has been selected for consideration for nomination for the 2018 Grammy Awards in the Reggae Album category.

In an interview with Showbiz last Sunday, Blakk Rasta said, “there is no turning back, I know that we are going to get nominated and we will go ahead to win. Kuchoko is the most daring Reggae album in the past 20 years, it is original and authentic.

According to him, he released his Kuchoko Revolution album in February this year in the United States of America.

“And while on tour in the USA, I mentioned at every university I lectured that I will be the very first artiste to bring a Grammy to Ghana and the first Reggae artiste in Africa to do so.

I said the same thing in Ghana so I am not surprised the album is being considered for nomination.

“VP Records wrote to me to say the Grammy people are showing interest in the Kuchoko album and were considering it for the Reggae Album category or the World Music category. And I said it could go for both but they wrote back to say the organisers have considered the Reggae Album category, so we are just a step away from a nomination. I know that we will bring home the award, Rocky Dawuni was the first Ghanaian to be nominated two years ago. The only way forward for Reggae and Dancehall is Kuchoko,” he said.

On how he feels about the whole Grammy thing, Blakk Rasta proudly said “I feel really really excited because that is the highest kind of award, I feel recognised. I am glad that we were able to push this agenda, Kuchoko is making a very big impact, a Ghanaian Grammy deserves a holiday.”

Throwing more light on the album that is set to do the magic, Blakk Rasta said he fused Reggae with African music and decided to name it Kuchoko. “This album is supposed to revolutionalise reggae music in the world. It has Serwaa Akoto, an original Highlife song with a Reggae feel, giving it a certain flavour". It was produced by Zapp Mallet.

“With this kind of originality and creativity, it was well received, there are lots of African beats in my reggae so people started to appreciate my music. Everything was recorded live - the guitar, the flute, the gonge etc. We also have songs with Calypso feel; Kuchoko is the authentic sound of reggae music,” he said.

Blakk Rasta is scheduled to headline one of the biggest concerts in the world, MASA, which comes off in Cote D’Ivoire in March 2018. “Out of about 700 artistes who applied to perform, only 20 were chosen and I am the only Ghanaian and only Reggae artiste on the bill,” he said.

He had a message for his fans; “They should get busy with social media, the moment the nomination is opened, they should welcome Kuchoko, we shouldn’t be the last to support our own,” he said.