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1st Ghanaian Grammy nominee Rocky Dawuni details what influenced his 2015 nomination

Rocky Dawuni has been to the Grammys before and he is sharing what took him to a prestigious global platform as such.

Rocky Dawuni at the Grammys

The Ghanaian singer was nominated for the Grammys in 2015 for his sixth studio album titled 'Branches of The Same Tree' in the category of Best Reggae Album. The nomination made the 'Black Star' singer the first Ghanaian to be nominated for Grammys.

Speaking on Joy FM about the Grammy brouhaha over why no Ghanaian act has made it to the Grammys like Burna Boy and Wizkid who won their first Grammys last weekend, Rocky Dawumi is saying that it is about the uniqueness of the artiste's craft.

Citing himself as an example, he said “I created a blueprint of an album which fused highlife gospel Reggae music and great songwriting which is really always the key".

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The 52-year-old singer emphasized that the Grammy Recording Academy voters were attracted by his dynamics and how different the album sounded different from the numerous ones submitted.

It propelled them to vote for me instead of something they were familiar with,” he told Lexis Bill, the host of Joy FM's Drive Time show.

Speaking on the way forward for Ghanaian acts, a report by myjoyonline.com reported him to have said that "his album could be one of the projects that local artistes can learn from to help improve their sound to increase their chances of a Grammy nomination".

Rocky Dawuni added that it is high time Ghanaian artistes stop forcing themselves on the Afrobeat train to gain international recognition because Nigerians have taken it and made it their own, hence, it is important for Ghanaian artiste to carve their own niche in the international market.

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He concluded that “you don’t jump on the train when it has already left the station, you have to create your own innovative ideas.” Watch the video below as Rocky Dawuni talks about moving back to Ghana and shared his career story with pulse.com.gh in 2019.

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