Grammys and Larry Jackson at Odds After ‘Shake It to the Max’ Remix Ruled Ineligible: Remixes Do Not Qualify in the Global Music Category at the Grammys

“Remixes are just not eligible” for the Global Music Performance category says the Recording Academy igniting one of the biggest controversies of the 2026 Grammy cycle — subsequently Moliy’s global smash “Shake It to the Max (Fly)” remix was not up for consideration in the Global and African music categories.

Independent music label gamma. submitted the song as a remix, and the Grammys’ published rules explicitly prohibit remixes from competing in those categories.

Following the omission, the Academy explained the decision in a statement to Billboard:

“We all acknowledge it is a massive song with significant cultural impact. Unfortunately… it was submitted as a remix, and as per our longstanding and published rules, remixes are just not eligible in these categories.”

But to gamma. CEO Larry Jackson, the ruling made little sense — and even less justice.

“To be disqualified because we decided to call it a remix instead of ‘Part Two’ in our submission process is an interesting choice,” Jackson said. “The answer of ‘That’s just the rule’ doesn’t feel respectful toward what these artists achieved.”

A Technicality With Massive Consequences

The remix — which includes new verses from Shenseea and Skillibeng, a revised Moliy intro, and its own ISRC code — meets the Recording Academy’s definition of a new recording. It was also the only version ever submitted for Grammy consideration.

Yet because the word “remix” appeared on the submission, the Academy blocked it from Global and African music consideration and refused to move it into another genre category such as pop, melodic rap, or African music performance.

Jackson called the decision “devoid of any common sense” and symbolic of how independent artists and global genres are often boxed out by rigid rules.

gamma. Appeals, but the Academy Holds Firm

According to gamma., the label was informed of the ineligibility on Sept. 20 and appealed for nearly a week. Jackson personally contacted Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr., but the ruling stood.

“This is especially odd, given the fact that 50% of it is a new composition,” Jackson said. “How discouraging is it for up-and-coming artists from Africa or the Caribbean that such an undeniable global success may not be honored because of rigid conventionalism?”

The remix also did not qualify for Best Remixed Recording, since Grammy rules state that simply adding featured vocalists — without significantly altering the original music — does not constitute a remix for that category.

Despite massive chart success — from 26 weeks atop U.S. Afrobeats Songs to Top 10 R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and a No. 44 peak on the Hot 100(20 weeks total) — “Shake It to the Max” will now be absent from the 2026 Grammys.

As Jackson put it, the situation highlights “the lack of leverage that independent artists and independent music companies systematically have against the machine.”