Graduate Student Kingsley Okyere received the African and African Diasporic Music Section (AADMS) African Student Paper Prize at the recent meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology for his paper, "Afrobeats’ Genre-Defying Tactics," that was first presented in Ottawa, Canada in October 2023. The 69th Annual meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology was held virtually from October 17-26, 2024.
Okyere’s current research specifically investigates problems that arise in intra-African regional musical exchanges, the non-musical impacts on and/or implications of West African studio musicking, African and Afro-diasporic musical circulations, and creative musicology. He has presented his research at conferences and symposiums, including recently at the Society for Ethnomusicology (SEM) and the International Council for Traditional Music and Dance (ICTMD).
The Student Paper Prize recognizes the most distinguished student paper delivered on the topic of African and African diasporan music. The award provides prize money to the student and another to a library of their choice in the geographic area they are working. Read more about the award here.