Grammys: Model Naomi Campbell criticises Academy, says Wizkid’s Essence was in wrong category

British model, Naomi Campbell, has criticised the Recording Academy for snubbing Wizkid’s Made In Lagos album and also putting the hit song, Essence, in the wrong category in the just concluded 64th Grammy Awards.

Wizkid was nominated in two different categories; the Best Global Music Album and also the Best Global Music Performance, but the singer lost both categories, one to veteran singer Angelique Kidjo and the other to Pakistani singer, Arooj Aftab.

In a post on Instagram early Tuesday, Naomi said the Recording Academy was tone deaf to what is going on in the universe.

She wrote, “To my brother #wizkidayo,#MadeinLagos was beyond a phenomenal album!! WINNER WITHOUT DOUBT!! You are the KING of the people, that have bought AFROBEATS mainstream, that means more than any Academy of any sort.

Then to the Academy, the model also said, “#recordingacademy once again you choose to be tone deaf to what is going in the universe. Changing World to Global is not enough… get up to speed on the state of all popular music and include Afrobeats Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year and all the subcategories that this genre so deserves – just as another respected and recognized musical genre.

“#MadeinLagos Album and song Essence was clearly in the wrong category, how can you ignore the song Essence? The song by Wizkid and Tems that was covered and remixed by Justin Bieber, you seem to isolate it under Global when it should have been in the Song of the Year category.

“This is a misrepresentation and a neglectful categorisation of music once again. Give Afrobeats the representation it deserves. You are ignoring 1.3 billion people. It will only make us Rise!! Afrobeats in our hearts, Africa beats to the world!