What is world music?

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The term world music refers to the music of the world’s cultures. In the 1980s, world music was used to label non-English recordings released in Great Britain and the United States. This controversial category amalgamated the music of sources as diverse as Tuvan throat singers, Zimbabwean guitar bands, Pakistani qawwalī (Sufi-music) singers, Cajun fiddlers, and Hawaiian slack-key guitarists.

When did the Grammy Awards introduce the world music category?

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In 1991 the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences added a world music category to its Grammy Awards. Among the artists who benefited most from this new visibility were the Gipsy Kings, Cesaria Evora, and several “ambient-global,” or “ethnotechno,” projects, including Enigma (from Germany) and Deep Forest. In 2020 the Best World Music Album award was replaced with one called the Best Global Music Album.