The only thing better than a father-daughter duo is a father-daughter duo that wins a Grammy. Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) student Aura V and her father, Fyütch, won a Grammy Award earlier this month for the Best Children’s Music Album category.

 

The pair’s album soared beyond what they could imagine it would reach. “There are people who voted for us that we don’t even know,” Fyütch said. “I know the power of music.” “This form of expression is something that is fun but that I take seriously. It’s my form of activism.”

 

Born Harold Simmons III, using the stage name Fyütch (pronounced fyo?oCH), he established his solo artist career. “I started off writing poetry in middle school for a girl I had a crush on and that eventually led to me writing rap songs and freestyling with my friends,” he said. “By the time I got to high school, I started a couple of bands with my friends and after graduation we went our separate ways.”

 

At the age of four, Aura V’s singing career started when she was featured in a short soundbite on Fyütch’s album, “Family Tree.” As a fourth-generation musician, Aura is surrounded by music so her expression of it came as no surprise. “I thought she would be a drummer,” he said. “Growing up she would air drum and sing along to the melodies of the songs.”

 

“It [singing] brings me to another world,” Aura said. “It’s like my happy place,” she said. Her love for singing grew so much that she and her dad collaborated on a full album together. With no prior knowledge about the Grammys Aura quickly made it her goal to win the award. “I didn’t even know what the Grammys were and then we got nominated for one,” she said. And then they won.

 

Not only did the pair win the Best Children’s Music Album award, Aura V made history as now being the youngest individual Grammy Award winner, taking the title from Blue Ivy Carter, Beyonce and Jay-Z’s daughter who took home a Grammy in 2021 at the age of nine. “We didn’t think that we would make history with this award and the fact that she did that at age eight,” Fyütch said. “We were like ‘Woah’.”

 

Making history during Black History Month was never the goal, but once they realized what happened, their gratitude grew.

 

“I just want to say thank you,” Aura said. “I love it when people feel happy.” As a former educator, Fyütch wanted to pair his two interests, music and education for their Grammy winning album, “Harmony.” The father-daughter duo performs about the importance of education, family and gratitude for the world.