Afrobeats’ global influence has reached new heights with six Nigerian artists receiving Grammy nominations in the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. Davido, Burna Boy, Olamide, Ayra Starr, Fireboy DML, and Asake were all nominated for next year’s event which will be held in February 2023.
In recent pasts, only one Nigerian artist was represented in the Global Music category in a year, but the genre’s impact led to the creation of a new category for Africa, resulting in more Nigerian acts being nominated in a single year.
Burna Boy’s 4 Grammy Nominations, “Sittin On Top Of The world” in the Best Melodic Rap category, “City Boys” in the Best African Performance category, “I Told Them” in the Best Global Music Album category, and “Alone” in the Best Global Music Performance category.
Davido for the first time in his career spanning over a decade got three nominations including ‘UNAVAILABLE’ in the Best African Performance category, ‘FEEL’in the Best Global Music Performance category, and ‘Timeless’ in the Best Global Album category.
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Nigerian music fans and critics celebrated the Nigerian star for his hat trick of nominations. Joey Akan, Nigerian music journalist said “There’s no man more deserving of his Grammy nomination than Davido. He’s held us down for over a decade, transitioning his art through generations to maintain a prolific, sublime, steady stream of art. High traffic, high impact, this is long overdue, and comes too far into Afrobeats to the world, for someone who have given Africa, a lot of firsts.”
Other nominees in the Best Global Music Album category are Susana Baca- Epifanias, Shakti – This Moment, and Bokante – History.
The new Best African Music Performance category saw new from Nigeria— Amapiano by ASAKE & Olamide, Rush by Ayra Starr and Water by Tyla. Fireboy DML earned a Grammy nomination in the Album of the Year category for his contributions to Jon Batiste’s ‘World Music Radio’.
This sees Fireboy DML, Ayra Starr, Olamide and Asake from Nigeria all get their first-ever Grammy nominations
One notable snub was the Calm Down by Rema which has won most Afrobeats accolades this year. Fans were surprised by the huge omission after the nominations were announced.
Motolani Alake said on Twitter, “They should have used the argument for ‘Truth Hurts’ by Lizzo for Rema’s ‘Calm Down.’ It blew up during the year in review.”
The song ‘Truth Hurts’ by Lizzo was released long before the year in review but was popular during the same time, hence its nomination. The same can be said for Ayra Starr as her nominated single ‘Rush’ was released in 2021 yet got a Grammy nod.
This achievement has sparked discussions about the representation of African music at the Grammy Awards, with many celebrating the recognition of diverse and talented artists from the continent. Fans are eagerly anticipating the outcome of these nominations
