Two years in a row, African music artists have clinched the Global Music Album category of the Grammy award.
First, Angela Kidjo of the Benin Republic in 2020, for her 2019 album Celia and Burna Boy from Nigeria who won the 2021 edition with his album “Twice As Tall”.
On his part, Wizkid, through his collaboration with Beyoncé won the Best Music Video For “Brown Skin Girl” alongside Blue Ivy.
Interestingly, Burna Boy was nominated the previous year but lost to the more experienced Kidjo. However, the Beninois songstress dedicated her award to Burna Boy, as if tapping the Nigerian to succeed her the following year.
The accomplishments by WizKid and Burna Boy have not only inspired African musicians but pitted Ghanaian reggae-dancehall artist, Shatta Wale against his fellow countrymen and media industry as the Ghanaian bemoaned a lack of support to help the country’s musicians record such success.
This feat has been in the works for Nigerian artists for years as music producers like Kenny and D1 gave Nigerian artists Grammy exposure.
While it can be rightfully argued that none of the artists from that era won a Grammy award, the move was laying the foundation for the new generation of Nigerian artists to aspire for global excellence.
International collaborations between indigenous artists such as TuFace and Beenie Man, P Square featuring Rick Ross, D’Banj who collaborated with Kanye West, and Snoop Dogg on two separate songs are some of the strategies used by Nigerian artists to get international audience.
While Afrobeats is a generic term for songs emanating from mainly West Africa, those put out by Nigerian artists is doing the most impact globally.
READ ALSO: See Full List Of Grammy Awards 2021 Winners
Wizkid relocated to the United States, where he worked with Drake and won his first Grammy award for “One Dance”.
Burna Boy after losing the 2020 Grammy award to Angelique Kidjo, took that experience as a challenge to beat his competitors the following year. He worked with Diddy on his next project to co-produce the “Twice As Tall” album.
All the hard work finally paid off as the two artists made history for the continent. The award is for the people of the continent of Africa, our voices have been heard through the art of these two artists on the world’s biggest music award stage.
African artists should pursue their dreams, build bridges, learn to be dynamic, and seek international opportunities in order to open their art to the rest of the world.
