The Grammys have a new category for African musicians. Here’s what you need to know about the nominees History of African artists at the Grammys

The Grammys have a new category for African musicians. Here’s what you need to know about the nominees
History of African artists at the Grammys

For the first time, African music has its own category at the Grammys. The Recording Academy is introducing three new categories this year, including “Best Performance of African Music,” featuring some of Afrobeats’ global superstars.

“With the introduction of these three new categories, we can recognize and appreciate a wider range of artists,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in a press release last year about the categories, which include best pop dance . Recording and Best Alternative Jazz Album. “We are excited to honor and celebrate the creators and recordings of these categories, while introducing a wider range of music to fans around the world.”

The addition of the Best African Music Act category follows the meteoric rise in popularity of Afrobeats around the world. On Spotify alone, Afrobeats streams have grown by over 550% since 2017, according to the streaming platform, making it one of the “fastest growing genres”.

Ahead of the 2024 Grammy Awards on February 4 in Los Angeles, here’s what you should know about the five Best African Music Performance nominees set to make history.

Oyinkansola Sarah Aderibigbe popularly known as Ayra Starr has been nominated for her hit single ‘Rush’ from her debut studio album ’19 and Dangerous’. The song became a global hit, went viral on TikTok with a dance challenge, was featured on former US President Barack Obama’s 2022 playlist, and currently has over 300 million streams on Spotify and nearly 300 million views on YouTube. Signed to Mavin Records, the 21-year-old Afro-pop singer has collaborated with Kelly Rowland, Stormzy and other Nigerian stars Tiwa Savage and Wizkid.

Asake and Olamide
Asake for their genre-sensitive music style

These two Nigerian powerhouses each received their first nominations for their hit single ‘Amapiano’. Asake, whose real name is Ahmed Ololade, became the highest-charting Nigerian debut album in history on the Billboard charts in 2022 with “Mr. Money with Vibe.

The Grammy-nominated track is the third single from his second album, “Work of Art “, and celebrates Amapiano, another African music genre that has gained global popularity and recognition. The 29-year-old is signed to YBNL Records, which is owned by Olamide. In a 2021 interview with CNN, Olamide described his label’s mindset as imperative: “The doors weren’t opening,” he said, “so I had to build my building and my door.”

South African Tyla, 21, is nominated for her smash hit ‘Water’, which sparked a viral dance movement upon its release in 2023. The singer released her first single ‘Getting Late’ in 2019 and has been on the rise ever since. . . He described his sound as “Popiano” – a fusion of the South African Amapiano genre and pop music. “Water” is the first single from her debut studio album “Tyla” and is the South African solo artist’s highest-charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, debuting at number 67 and climbing as high as number 10.

The song Afrobeats superstar David Adeleke’s “Unavailable” is one of his three nominations at this year’s Grammy Awards. The Nigerian singer, best known as Davido, is also nominated for Best Global Album and Best Global Music Performance. The song is from his fourth studio album, Timeless, which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard World Albums Chart. Davido was also one of Spotify’s most streamed artists in Africa in 2023.

Regarding the album, Davido told the public in 2023 that he thinks it. will stand the test of time: “I, I know for years to come… we will talk about this album… it just took me to another dimension of music making.” But the singer made headlines of a different kind in the weeks leading up to the Grammys when Nigerian star Tiwa Savage filed a police complaint over alleged threats against her.

The Night Burna Boy Became Hollywood Star Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu is up for a total of four Grammys this year for Best Global Music Album, Best Melodic Rap Performance, Best Global Music Performance and Best African Music Act and will perform at the prizes He won the Grammy for Best Global Music Album in 2021 for Twice as Tall.

Burna Boy finished a historic 2023 year-end at #1 on Billboard’s US Afrobeats Artist Chart and among Spotify’s 10 Most Streamed African Male Artists. In 2021, he told CNN how much the music he makes means to him. “I’m not a musician that just gives you a vibe or gives you nice beats and talks about whatever, just to make you dance,” he said. “Each of my songs is essentially a part of my soul.”

Some media organizations spoke with singer-songwriter and president of the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective, Rico Love, and Sheila Okonji-Ashinze, host of the American syndicated show Afrozons with Sheila O, who campaigned for the new category. . The couple visited Lagos, Nigeria to host the Grammys and honor music legend King Sunny Ade.

They believe that establishing a Grammy category for African music is an important step towards recognizing and celebrating the diversity and influence of African artists around the world.

“It’s amazing because it’s been a long time,” said Love. “The fact that African music is spreading and growing worldwide, not just in the diaspora. African artists now have the opportunity to be seen, heard and recognized at the Recording Academy, which we are very passionate about.

“African music has grown so much that to put it in the category of world music would be a disservice to its various genres. Afrobeats in particular spanned many genres around the world. This new category offers all African music a chance to be recognized as an individual.

Sheila Okonji-Ashinze said when she moved to the US in 2017, she created the first nationally syndicated Afrobeats show. “It’s coming.