For the second year in a row, there will be a Grammy for Best African Music Performance.
Nigeria dominates this year’s Best African Music Performance category of hopefuls, including return contendersBurna Boy and Asake, the former earning a nod for his hit song “Higher,” while the latter’s collaboration with Wizkid, “MMS,” is also in the running. Davido also earns his second nod in the category for his contribution to Chris Brown’s “Sensational,” with Lojay picking up his first Grammy nomination for the same song. Singer Yemi Alade earns her first solo nod for “Tomorrow,” while Tems’ “Love Me Jeje” rounds out the nominees for Best African Music Performance.
Tems is the only African artist to be nominated more than once across the global music categories; her debut album, Born in the Wild is up for Best Global Music Album, and she’s joined in that category by Rema, nominated for his sophomore album, HEIS. Outside the global spots, Tems is also up for Best R&B song for “Burning,” a meditative highlight off her album.
In the Best Global Music Performance category, Beninese icon Angélique Kidjo is nominated for “Sunlight to My Soul,” her uplifting collaboration with the Soweto Gospel Choir. Ghanaian reggae legend Rocky Dawuni earns his second nomination in this category, and his fourth Grammy nod overall, for his single, “Rise.”
Also notable, breakout country artistShaboozey snagged five nominations. The American Nigerian singer is up for Best New Artist, and his viral hit song, “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” is nominated for Song of the Year and Best Country Solo Performance, and the David Guetta remix is up for Best Remixed Recording. He’s also nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance for his contribution to Beyoncé’s “Spaghetti.”
Since Burna Boy’s first nomination for Best Global Music Album at the 2020 Grammys, and his win the following year, there has been an increased representation of African music at the biggest award in music, reflecting the widespread listenership and global influence of music from the continent and its diaspora.
Specifically for the Best African Music Performance, it’s a little dissatisfactory that only one country is represented in the nominees, but there will be optimism in the fact that there will be at least one African who wins a Grammy on Feb. 2, 2025.
See the full list of nominees here.
Best African Music Performance
Asake & Wizkid – “MMS”
Burna Boy – “Higher”
Chris Brown – “Sensational” Featuring Davido & Lojay
Tems – “Love Me JeJe”
Yemi Alade – “Tomorrow”
Best Global Music Performance
Angélique Kidjo & Soweto Gospel Choir – “Sunlight to My Soul”
Arooj Aftab – “Raat Ki Rani”
Jacob Collier – “A Rock Somewhere” Featuring Anoushka Shankar & Varijashree Venugopal
Masa Takumi – “Kashira” Featuring Ron Korb, Noshir Mody & Dale Edward Chung
Rocky Dawuni – “Rise”
Sheila E. – “Bemba Colorá” Featuring Gloria Estefan & Mimy Succar
Best Global Music Album
Antonio Rey – Historias de un Flamenco
Ciro Hurtado – Paisajes
Matt B & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Alkebulan II
Rema – Heis
Tems – Born in the Wild
