‘Ponder’, a Spoken Word Poetry Album by award-winning Ghanaian Poet/Spoken Word Artist, Nana Fredua-Agyeman Jnr. is currently being considered for shortlisting by the Recording Academy Board.
This means the album has the potential of being nominated for the Spoken Word Poetry Album category at next year’s GRAMMY Awards ceremony.
The album was released independently on the 1st of December, 2021 on all major streaming platforms except Audiomack on 1st March, 2022. The album has already received critical acclaim by stakeholders and poetry lovers.
‘Where I Come From’, a track from the album was adjudged the first (1st) prize winner in the Spoken Word category at the Ghana Association of Writers Literary Awards in December, 2021.
The Best Spoken Word Album of the Year category has been awarded since 1959.
The category included audiobooks, storytelling, comedy, amongst other oratory artforms. However, after the poetry community made a strong case for the separation of Spoken Word Poetry from the others, it was achieved this year.
When asked about his reaction to the development and announcement of the Best Spoken Word Poetry Album GRAMMY category,J. Ivy said, “In the past 20 years,
…As the Recording Academy, I understood wanting to award audio books, but I also knew that we could no longer compare apples and oranges.
I’m a huge fan of audio books, but as a poet who has been performing for almost 30 years, I can tell you with confidence that the two are not the same thing.
Not wanting to see this continue, not wanting the frustration to keep piling on to the poetry community, with the help of some of the brightest minds in music, I wrote a proposal asking that the Recording Academy split the category and redefine the definition of spoken word poetry so that the poets could finally have our own place at the GRAMMYs”.
‘Ponder’ was submitted for entry on 23rd August, 2022 and a receipt of submission to the Academy was acknowledged on 7th September, 2022.
The entry to the Grammy Awards was done by James Ivy Richardson III popularly known as J. Ivy, a Grammy-award winning Spoken Word Artist and member of the Recording Academy.
He won his first GRAMMY’s in 2005 for his compelling performance on ‘Never Let Me Down’ by Kanye West which also featured Jay-Z when the ‘College Dropout’ album won Best Rap Album.
