New York-based African-American music/lifestyle blogger who has stayed committed to the affairs and success of emerging artistes for the best part of the last ten years, Richardine Bartee has described African music as music of great potential.

In a recent interview the American of Liberian descent says the continent is the future hub of music and emerging talents.

“I like the energy behind African music, It seems to be driven out of love, first. I think African music will continue to blossom and spread into other regions because it is universal, even if you can’t understand the dialect or language. It is harmonious, pure, for the most part, and true collaborations.

It’s going to be interesting to see how far and wide it spreads in the US. It’s making its stride into pop culture, more and more by the day with people like Kanye West replaying Davido’s music during his Sunday Service, Cardi B being on a Davido’s song, Megan The Stallion appearing onstage with him, and now, a potential record with Nicki Minaj. It’s happening,” she said

“From the way Puffy (or Diddy) embraced Burna Boy on his Instagram Live, and how Naomi Campbell speaks about the music from that region, I believe it is only a matter of time before it makes its way to other genres/markets. And I think the better unification among African music stars is rooted in the way of life of the people and their culture,” she added

Richardine also affirmed her love for Afrobeat, a Nigerian genre of music that has found acceptance across the globe. She said the genre has made a huge impression on the world stage

“ Afrobeat, Afrobeats and African Jazz. Right now, I think Afrobeats is the most accepted African music genre in the world because it’s reaching across demographics of young and old,” she said.

For more than ten years, Richardine Bartee has been promoting music, particularly of the obscure artistes who are disadvantaged by many mitigating factors. And she explains how she has been doing this, regardless of the attendant challenges.

“I have access to music industry professionals. I get to help change music laws through my activism. I get invited to the Grammy’s. I get aid from MusiCares, enjoy discounts on music-related tools and instruments. I get access to private panels and programming. I can be a GRAMMY U mentor, go to dinners with other women in music, etc,”

Richardine Bartee calls New York home but she is originally from Liberia. She was born November 15, 1985 in New York City.

She has worked with major American record labels (“The Big 3”). Some of the other labels or imprints include Roc Nation, Group, Interscope Records, Quality Control, RCA, Epic Records, etc., and some international labels to give feedback about their artists frequently.

She also used to write for MTV, where she covered international multi-language speaking artists and had a focus on Hip-Hop and EDM. She has also written feature articles for Myspace, The Source and Hot 97’s DJ Enuff, who was Biggie’s DJ.

She is a member of the Recording Academy, a GRAMMY U Mentor, part of Complex Day Ones, which is an exclusive community to help make complex experiences better. She’s also a part of the Female Founder Collective.

Her blog “GRUNGECAKE” has been recognized as the number 3 blog to find new Hip-Hop tracks on Hypebot. Before forming GRUNGECAKE ten years ago, she founded two-three other companies. One of them was a graphics design business called Booby Trap Design and another was 9267 Studios, which spells out YAMS on the dial pad.

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African music will continue to blossom- Richardine Bartee.