Nigerian Afrobeats is assured of its victory in the “Best African Musical Performance” category of the Grammy Awards, the ceremony of which will be held on February 2 in Los Angeles (United States), thus washing away the affront of the past edition where the prize went to a South African artist.
The five titles selected in this category all come from Nigeria, the most populous country on the African continent: Burna Boy (“Higher”), Tems (“Love Me JeJe”), Asake & Wizkid (“MMS”) and Yemi Alade ( “Tomorrow”) were named, alongside the American Chris Brown accompanied by Davido and Lojay, two other heavyweights of the genre which has been thrilling Africa for ten years and now the whole world.
At the last Grammy Awards ceremony, it was South Africa’s Tyla (“Water”), the only non-Nigerian nominee, who won the coveted award, beating out her four Nigerian competitors, Asake, Burna Boy, Davido and Ayra Starr.
Singer Tems, who in 2023 became the first Nigerian artist to win a Grammy Award for co-writing Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” for the film “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, is also selected in the “Best International Album” category. , just like his compatriot Rema.
With more than 223 million hours of listening and 7.1 billion streams on Spotify in 2023, afrobeats is one of the hottest musical genres in the world, according to figures published on the platform’s website listening.
Afrobeats, which mixes traditional African rhythms and contemporary pop, finds its roots in Nigeria in the 1970s under the influence of the artist Fela Kuti, founding father of afrobeats (without “s”).
Supported by the Nigerian diaspora, the genre is exported to the United Kingdom and the United States, allowing Nigerian artists to access international markets.
A powerful tool of Nigerian cultural “soft power”, Afrobeats rivals in popularity with South African amapiano, a musical genre which has also become very popular around the world.
With AFP
