Reggae artiste Blvk H3ro is looking forward to making the most of the Grammy red carpet when he arrives at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles – with his Jamaica flag – on February 5 next year. It is actually something he sang about in one of his songs, and the rising star is happy that his words are being manifested.
“Manifestation music,” he posted hours after being nominated for a Grammy Award last Tuesday. Quoting from his 2021 single, Greatness, H3ro wrote, “ ‘Pull up Grammy night with my crew in $10,000 suits.’ Word sound power conquers all, speak that into being, then work hard at it.”
Blvk H3ro’s nomination is in the Best Global Music Performance category for the song Neva Bow Down. He is featured on the song by Ghanaian musician and activist Rocky Dawuni. The other nominations in the category are Udhero Na, Arooj Aftab and Anoushka Shankar; Gimme Love, Matt B and Eddy Kenzo; Last Last, Burna Boy; and Bayethe, Wouter Kellerman, Zakes Bantwini and Nomcebo Zikode.
The Best Global Music Performance award, reserved for international performers exhibiting “non-European, indigenous traditions”, was first presented at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, held on January 31, 2022. Blvk H3ro is the first reggae artiste to be nominated in the category.
“I am definitely going to be attending the Grammy Awards in February,” he said. “Oh man ... I am looking at it ... visualising it. Me, with my hairstyle and my big Jamaica flag. Just being there and making the connections is winning.”
Blvk H3ro is the Rastaman with locks that seem to grow tall rather than long. And, just like David Hines of Steel Pulse, who is his inspiration, his hairstyle makes him stand out from the crowd and is a great conversation starter.
“It all boils down to putting in the work. I have been on tour since May, and each time the tour looks like it’s going to end, we get more dates. This [nomination] mek we want to work harder... hurry up and finish my album. Is like a new battery pack inna mi back,” declared a delighted Blvk H3ro, who admitted that he was at a loss for words when he heard about the Grammy nomination.
He shared that although he had not yet spoken to Rocky Dawuni, he had spoken to the singer’s team shortly after the announcement.
“Rocky and his team are fans of the music, and they wanted to connect for about a year. They sent me the record and I went to the studio in California ... and everything aligned perfectly. This nomination is in-house as well because it’s my producer, Bob Riddim, who made the riddim,” the artiste, who is signed to Delicious Vinyl Island, shared.
Blvk H30 explained that Never Bow Down was important to him because it championed social change, and he got the opportunity to use his voice “in a powerful way”.
Dawuni is an outspoken advocate for a variety of global causes, including women’s health and education, and was named a United Nations Foundation Ambassador for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. He is also a songwriter and record producer who performs his signature ‘Afro roots’ sound, a mixture of reggae, Afrobeat, highlife and soul music. Now a three-time Grammy nominee, in 2016 he was nominated in the Best Reggae Album category for his album, Branches Of The Same Tree. For the 2022 Grammys, he was also nominated for Best Global Music Performance.
He wrote on Instagram: “I am truly honoured to be nominated for another #Grammy award for my song Never Bow Down feat. @blvkh3ro. This is a huge honour for Africa and the Caribbean coming together on this global roots anthem! Thank you to everyone who was part of this project, and congrats to my fellow nominees. This is a song of the times to inspire all of us to #nevabowdown. Ghana to the world! Africa to the universe!”