There was consternation on social media after Wizkid and Tems were glaringly absent from the list of African performers who had received Grammy Awards.
The 66th Grammy Awards will take place on February 4, and the organizers have published a list of African performers who have won since the 1960s.
According to the list, Miriam Makeba, the late South African singer, is still the first African to win a Grammy. Sade, the pop artist, came next, becoming the first Nigerian to win the worldwide prize, while Burna Boy is the most recent and last Nigerian to receive the prestigious trophy.
Below are the 10 winners from Africa, according to the Grammys:
- Miriam Makeba (South Africa) — Best Folk Recording (with Harry Belafonte) – 1966
- Sade Adu (Nigeria/UK) — Best New Artist – 1986
- Ali Farka Touré (Mali) — Best World Music Album – 1994
- Cesária Évora (Cape Verde) — Best Contemporary World Music Album – 2004
- Youssou N’Dour (Senegal) — Best Contemporary World Music Album – 2005
- Angélique Kidjo (Benin/France) — Best Contemporary World Music Album – 2008
- RedOne (Morocco) — Best Dance/Electronic Album – 2010
- Tinariwen (Mali/Algeria/Libya) — Best World Music Album – 2012
- Burna Boy (Nigeria) — Best Global Music Album – 2021
- Black Coffee (South Africa) – Best Dance/ Electronic Album — 2022
The list, however, has sparked an endless debate on social media platforms because to the exclusion of Wizkid and Tems, two Nigerian music superstars.
Wizkid received his first Grammy prize on March 14, 2021, for his role in Beyonce’s 2019 song ‘Brown Skin Girl’. The production got the ‘Best Music Video’ award.
The ‘Ojuelegba’ hitmaker feat occurred around the same time that Burna Boy received his first Grammy win, in the ‘Best Global Music Album’ category, for his 2020 effort ‘Twice As Tall’.
The development raises questions regarding the parameters used by the Grammys to make the list.
However, while clarifying Wizkid and Burna Boy’s Grammy status, the award organisers wrote: “Femi Kuti, King Sunny Adé, Babatunde Olatunji, and his rival WizKid had all received GRAMMY nods before Burna Boy became the first Nigerian male artiste to grab a golden gramophone for an original work. The Afrobeats megastar earned the prize for Best World Music Album in 2021 for his album Twice as Tall.”
The statement implied that although Wizkid received nomination, he is yet to win a Grammy while Burna Boy was praised for being “first Nigerian male artiste to grab a golden gramophone for an original work”.
Meanwhile, some users have taken to X to argue that Wizkid and Tems were omitted from the list because they won the Grammys as featured artistes, while others have taunted the two singers.
“Grammy released a list of African artists who have won the Grammy Award and Wizkid is no where to be found on their list, so na Iron that boy dey flaunt since?” a user asked.
“No Wizkid,,,,, No Tems,,,, Lmao In the just listed African Grammy winners When we say those two are built on other people’s success known as Gumbody,, Dem go think say we dey hate,,lol,” another user wrote.
No Wizkid,,,,, No Tems,,,, Lmao 😂
In the just listed African Grammy winnersWhen we say those two are built on other people's success known as Gumbody,, Dem go think say we dey hate,,lol 😂
Grammy just clarified us now
Wizkid FC know your place from Now on till Sunday 👍👍— Big SAM 💦 (@Sammyschisom) January 29, 2024
The 2024 Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 4, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The award organizers also created the ‘Best African Music Performance’ category to recognize African artists.
Asake, Olamide, Tems, Burna Boy, Olamide, and Ayra Starr were all nominated in this category.
