After winning several awards throughout his career, Afro-dancehall musician Stonebwoy has disclosed a particular one that will always hold a special place in his heart.
He touted the ‘Best International Act’ award at the 2015 BET Awards as his best.
Speaking to BBC Africa, Stonebwoy said winning the award marked a turning point in his career and believes it opened the door for Afro-dancehall, a genre he has consistently championed on the global stage.
“Absolutely. When I won the BET Awards in 2015, that actually broke the door open. Immediately after that, I released Go Higher. I had won Artiste of the Year at the Ghana Music Awards, which is like our Grammys, in May, and then in June I was winning the BET Award.
“That was a significant moment in my life that can never change. There are highlights of everybody’s career and I think that was when Afro-dancehall really got its opening to the globe,” Stonebwoy said.
Asked whether he feels proud to have introduced his own style of dancehall and gained recognition from Jamaica, the birthplace of the genre, Stonebwoy said Jamaicans appreciate the fact that their sound has inspired African musicians to carry the genre to new audiences.
He also encouraged Jamaicans to continue embracing greater collaboration with African artistes, saying such partnerships would help expand the genre’s global reach.
“It’s beautiful. I think the Jamaicans even love it. They love the fact that their sound has become an inspiration. It’s beautiful to realise that it is the African brothers and sisters who are promoting and propagating the measure.
“One thing I always say is that they should continue to open up their wings so that we can crisscross, making it bigger, better, and finer. That’s why BHIMFest has, for the past 10 to 11 years, given the platform and spend resources to open up that mentality by bringing them home, creating cross-connections, fostering collaborations, and exposing audiences here, and vice versa. I believe they should open up even more,” he noted.
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