‘It completely blew my mind’ – Seun Kuti gushes over Grammy nomination

Nigerian Afrobeat musician, Seun Kuti says his nomination for the 2019 Grammy awards “completely blew my mind”.

Kuti and his Egypt 80 band were nominated in the best world music album category for ‘Black Times’.

He will compete with Fatoumata Diawara, Bombino, Soweto Gospel Choir, and Yiddish Glory for the award.

Speaking about the nomination in a chat with BBC Minute, Kuti said: “It felt amazing. It was a highly expected great news, it completely blew my mind.”

The singer described the ‘Black Times’ record which earned him the Grammy nomination as a “simply fantastic album”.

The album was released in March and it earned him his first ever entry on the Billboard music charts.

The musician, whose brother Femi Kuti is a multiple Grammy nominee, said music runs in his family, even before the reign of his father, Fela Kuti.

He said: “My great-grandfather was the first artiste in West Africa to be recorded, my grandfather was a composer of Anglican hymns. My family is highly musical, there is no escaping it.”

When asked to comment on the current state of music, Kuti said: “A lot of musicians are not encouraged to develop their art and themselves as artists, so everyone is stuck in this cycle of pop music.”

The Grammy Awards will take place on February 10, 2019, at Staples Center, Los Angeles.