AFRICAN ARTISTES: GRAMMY NOMINATIONS AND MAJOR SNUBS | by Jessica Onyemauche

The Superbowl of music, on 9th November 2024, announced the contenders who are likely to receive a golden gramophone at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. Beyonce extends her record as the most nominated artiste in Grammy history, scoring over 11 nominations and a whopping total of 99 nominations. Other artistes who also passed the vibe check, according to the executives, include Kendrick Lamar, Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, and Post Malone, who all have seven nominations each. Over to our assiduous African artistes, who have continuously fulfilled the criterion of putting Africa on the globe. More than nine African artistes have been nominated for the 2025 Grammy Awards. The majority of these nominations come from the infamous category “Best African Music Performance.” The popular criticism of this category is attributed to the fact that its a lazy add on by Westerners so they don’t live through the “horror” of properly examining African music and identifying all the genres and subgenres that come from the continent. Nigeria artistes (Afrobeats artistes) dominate this year’s category, once again reminding us of the Grammy’s narrow view of African music.

African Artistes Nominated for the Grammys

Angélique Kidjo: The five-time Grammy Award winner is no stranger to dominating Grammy nominations, annually. Angélique has been nominated for the Best Global Music Performance category for her collaboration with the Soweto Gospel Choir titled “Sunlight to My Soul"

Tems: The Grammys have a distasteful history of constraining African artistes in “outskirt” categories. It's beyond exciting that Tems came in hard this year and broke down those walls. She secured a nomination for Best R&B Song for her song "Burning". "Burning" was nominated alongside After hours by Khelani, Ruined me by Muni Long, Here We Go (Uh Oh) by Coco Jones, and Saturn by SZA. Her lead single for her debut album--Love me Jeje is also seen in the Best African Music Performance category alongside fellow Nigerian artistes. The home of these amazing songs, her debut album, was given due accolades. “Born In The Wild” is nominated for Best Global Music Album. Tems secured 3 nominations which makes her the most nominated Nigerian artiste at the 2025 Grammys. And, overall, Tems is now an eight-time Grammy Nominne

Yemi Alade: “Nobody knows tomorrow...” is the opening line for Yemi Alade's song "Tomorrow". This choral chant ignites a sense of hope and has truly stood the test time. With "Tomorrow", The Nigerian Afropop superstar Yemi Alade earns her first ever Grammy nomination for Best African Music Performance. Yemi remains the living testament of “Do you, the right people will notice.”.

Asake: In the space of one year, Asake has secured two Grammy nominations. Last year, 2023, he was present for his song "Amapiano". Now we see him, again, in the Best African Music Performance for his collaboration with Wizkid titled "MMS".

Wizkid: Wizkid recorded his first Grammy win for Best Music Video as a lead artist on Beyoncé's "Brown Skin Girl". For yet another colllaboration, Wizkid has been nominated alongside Asake for their song "MMS" in the Best African Music Performance category. This earns him a total of five nominations in his career.

Burna boy: Burna boy is the African landlord of the Grammy stage. He has been nominated in the same category with Wizkid and Asake for Best African Music Performance. His nominated song "Higher" makes him the first African act to be nominated six years in a row. His Grammy journey now consists of 11 nominations and one win.

Lojay: Lojay known for his riveting voice and clever love songs is ushered into the Grammy list for his collaboration with Chris Brown and Davido-- “Sensational”. This first-time Grammy nominee can be found in the category of Best African Music Performance.

Rema: Rema earns his first Grammy nominations right after his global hit , which was snubbed last year, racked over a billion views on Youtube, and became the most viewed Afrobeats song. His nomination is one for the books because many Music critics believe with "HEIS", his sophomore album, he gave the world undiluted Afrobeat. "HEIS" is nominated for Best Global Music Album

Davido: Teaming up with his favourite international star— Chrisbrown Davido and Lojay crafted a surprisingly infectious dance floor bop. This song is the second single of Chris Brown's eleventh studio album, 11:11. “Sensational" has proven to be indeed a summer hit as Davido becomes a four-time Grammy nominated artiste with this collaboration which sits in the Best African Music Performance category.

Rocky Dawuni: Ghanaian reggae legend earns his second nomination in the Best Global Music Performance, and his fourth Grammy nod overall, for his single, “Rise".

Major Snubs

Tyla: Tyla who won her first Grammy last year with the song “Water” is no where to be seen in this year’s Grammy nomination, despite having an amazing year. The “drama” between Tyla and the Grammys started when they moved her music from the R&B category to Pop. This was met with a lot of criticism as the pop category is the most competitve and many believed the Grammys weren’t putting Tyla up for a fair fight. On the other hand, some saw this as a good development and a redirection from skin colour determining genre.

Ayra Star: The Afro pop star is one those artistes popularly rooted for and loved in her home country because they recognize her talent beyond awards and monthly listeners. This year Ayra released her highly anticipated sophomore album which homed the global hit "Commas". This upbeat Afrobeats has garnered over 79 million streams on Spotify and created trends following its global consumption. It's still shocking that Ayra is no where to be found in the nominations. Will Ayra become one of the greats who pour into the system, but get no accolades? Hope not. She will come back harder next year. Maybe this time the Grammys will be paying good attention.

African Artistes Nominated for the Grammys

Angélique Kidjo: The five-time Grammy Award winner is no stranger to dominating Grammy nominations, annually. Angélique has been nominated for the Best Global Music Performance category for her collaboration with the Soweto Gospel Choir titled “Sunlight to My Soul"

Tems: The Grammys have a distasteful history of constraining African artistes in “outskirt” categories. It's beyond exciting that Tems came in hard this year and broke down those walls. She secured a nomination for Best R&B Song for her song "Burning". "Burning" was nominated alongside After hours by Khelani, Ruined me by Muni Long, Here We Go (Uh Oh) by Coco Jones, and Saturn by SZA. Her lead single for her debut album--Love me Jeje is also seen in the Best African Music Performance category alongside fellow Nigerian artistes. The home of these amazing songs, her debut album, was given due accolades. “Born In The Wild” is nominated for Best Global Music Album. Tems secured 3 nominations which makes her the most nominated Nigerian artiste at the 2025 Grammys. And, overall, Tems is now an eight-time Grammy Nominne

Yemi Alade: “Nobody knows tomorrow...” is the opening line for Yemi Alade's song "Tomorrow". This choral chant ignites a sense of hope and has truly stood the test time. With "Tomorrow", The Nigerian Afropop superstar Yemi Alade earns her first ever Grammy nomination for Best African Music Performance. Yemi remains the living testament of “Do you, the right people will notice.”.

Asake: In the space of one year, Asake has secured two Grammy nominations. Last year, 2023, he was present for his song "Amapiano". Now we see him, again, in the Best African Music Performance for his collaboration with Wizkid titled "MMS".

Wizkid: Wizkid recorded his first Grammy win for Best Music Video as a lead artist on Beyoncé's "Brown Skin Girl". For yet another colllaboration, Wizkid has been nominated alongside Asake for their song "MMS" in the Best African Music Performance category. This earns him a total of five nominations in his career.

Burna boy: Burna boy is the African landlord of the Grammy stage. He has been nominated in the same category with Wizkid and Asake for Best African Music Performance. His nominated song "Higher" makes him the first African act to be nominated six years in a row. His Grammy journey now consists of 11 nominations and one win.

Lojay: Lojay known for his riveting voice and clever love songs is ushered into the Grammy list for his collaboration with Chris Brown and Davido-- “Sensational”. This first-time Grammy nominee can be found in the category of Best African Music Performance.

Rema: Rema earns his first Grammy nominations right after his global hit , which was snubbed last year, racked over a billion views on Youtube, and became the most viewed Afrobeats song. His nomination is one for the books because many Music critics believe with "HEIS", his sophomore album, he gave the world undiluted Afrobeat. "HEIS" is nominated for Best Global Music Album

Davido: Teaming up with his favourite international star— Chrisbrown Davido and Lojay crafted a surprisingly infectious dance floor bop. This song is the second single of Chris Brown's eleventh studio album, 11:11. “Sensational" has proven to be indeed a summer hit as Davido becomes a four-time Grammy nominated artiste with this collaboration which sits in the Best African Music Performance category.

Rocky Dawuni: Ghanaian reggae legend earns his second nomination in the Best Global Music Performance, and his fourth Grammy nod overall, for his single, “Rise".

Major Snubs