KINGSTON, Jamaica– British music publisher Kennedy Mensah will stage his third awards ceremony in Jamaica next September. The event has a new name, venue and associate company in the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Previously known as the Grammy Certificate Ceremony, it is now the Music In Excellence Ceremony. Scheduled for September 15, its new home is the Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston, Jamaica’s main business district.
The BPI was established in 1973. Among its functions is certifying platinum, gold and silver awards for albums (60,000, 100,000 and 300,000 in sales) and songs (200,000, 400,000 and 600,000).
They join Mensah’s Back 2 Da Future Music Limited and the Royalty Network Inc out of New York as associates for the Music In Excellence Ceremony. There will be 25 recipients of Grammy Certificates and discs certified by the BPI.
It is the Royalty Network Inc’s second year with the event. Mensah says it has attracted more interest from Jamaican music industry figures, since its inception in 2024.
Kennedy Mensah
“We also have a number of independent performers who have reached out to us to be included in our ceremony. We have had to turn a few people away and put them on for next year’s staging,” he told South Florida Caribbean News.
Mensah did not disclose the people who will receive awards in September.
The previous ceremony was held at Island SPACE Caribbean Museum in Plantation, South Florida last January. Guitarist Robert Browne, singer/musician Gramps Morgan, Grammy-winning band Morgan Heritage and singer Wayne Wonder were the recipients.
Born in London to parents from Ghana, Mensah started Back 2 Da Music Limited in 2008. He first staged the Grammy Certificate Ceremony in South Florida in July, 2024 when his organization honored guitarist Rad Bryan of The Revolutionaries and The Maytals fame.
Since then, he has also honored numerous unheralded reggae artists, producers and musicians in Jamaica and the United Kingdom.
