By Charminae George
At some point in a singer’s life, whether they’re right here in Antigua and Barbuda or abroad, they would have dreamed about winning a Grammy Award for their music.
For two of the nation’s prominent gospel artists, Rashid Walker and Melesha Sinclair-Harris (stage name Lisa Grace Harris), there’s a chance of this becoming a reality.
‘Come Now’ by Harris and ‘We Need Love’ by Walker are currently in the ‘first ballot stage’ in the Grammy process.
In this stage, the artists and their songs are voted on by a specific group of individuals. Those successful in receiving the popular vote in their respective categories become ‘Grammy-nominated’ and will advance to the final voting process where the winners will be selected.
The category both Walker and Harris have been nominated in is ‘Best Global Performance – Latin, global, reggae and new age, ambient or chant’.
Walker, who was told of the achievement last week via a friend, told Observer he was in a state of shock upon hearing the news.
“I was kinda flabbergasted, shocked…Those have been dreams as a child growing up but you never really think of that as an adult,” he said yesterday.
Harris, who also spoke to Observer recently, said that upon receiving an email telling her of the news, she experienced a state of shock, excitement and curiosity as to what song was nominated.
The lyrics for ‘Come Now’ were inspired by a compilation album she was participating in, entitled the ‘Homecoming Riddim’.
“I was on Facebook and I saw the notification if persons are interested in being on a compilation and I messaged the person…he sent me the rhythm…and I listened to it and fell in love with it right away, and I wrote the song in less than two hours,” she shared.
Harris added that her favourite line of the song is ‘Watch this! Jesus say come! Come now!’, which appears in the intro.
Walker’s ‘We Need Love’ is a tribute to his mother who passed away a few years ago. It was inspired by his job as a concierge at one of the country’s well-known couples-only resorts and further reinforced by the Bible, verse 1 Corinthians 13.
His favourite lyric of the song is ‘love is more than a bed full of roses, it’s the love in you that I see’. Walker said that it conveys love as not only heart-warming gestures, but accepting a person despite their flaws and mistakes.
Presented by the Recording Academy of the United States, the Grammy Awards recognise the achievements of individuals in the music industry worldwide. In order to receive this, a recent song of the potential candidate has to first be submitted to the academy by a member.
Next comes the first ballot where members of the academy will vote on a shortlist to determine Grammy nominees. Harris and Walker are currently in the first ballot voting which ends on Friday.
After this, a final round of voting amongst the members occurs and a list of Grammy Award winners will be announced on the night of the show.
Harris was born in Jamaica, before migrating to Antigua and Barbuda at the age of 13.
She began her professional career as a gospel singer in 2018. To date she has won multiple awards including ‘Songwriter of the Year’ in 2021 from the Antigua and Barbuda Global Music and Media Awards (ABGMA).
Walker was born in Antigua and officially began his career as a local gospel artist in 2020 at the age of 40. He too is a multi-ABGMA winner, with his debut song ‘This Too Shall Pass’ winning ‘Song of the Year’ in 2021.