a new scene for Afrobeats and its Nigerian stars

The Nigerian ambassadors of Afrobeats did not go unnoticed at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Burna Boy, by being the first artist of the genre to perform during the prestigious American ceremony, continues to plow the furrow of a musical genre that has imposed in a decade.

The kings of afrobeats, the Nigerian musical genre that has been flooding African and world airwaves for a decade, were not dubbed, but the 66th edition of the Grammy Awards will remain memorable for this musical movement. Four of the artists competing in the new category dedicated to African music and inaugurated on Sunday February 4 in Los Angeles, were from there. The Nigerian Ayra Starr (Rush) and his compatriots – Davido (with Musa Keys for Unavailable)the Asake-Olamide duo (for Amapiano) as well as Burna Boy (City Boys Miracle) – were in the running alongside South African singer Tyla.

It was ultimately the latter who walked away with the Grammy for best African musical performance with Water. A title with “Amapiano” accents (South African house music), which recently allowed the young artist to enter the Billboard Hot 100. As if to echo other categories dominated by female artists, the Grammy for best African musical performance so went to a woman.

To the rhythm of afrobeats

However, before the South African won at the Crypto.com Arena, the Nigerian Burna Boy offered an imperial afrobeats show, alongside American stars Brandy and 21 Savage. Together, they notably took over Sitting On Top of the World by Burna Boy, who performed other songs from his repertoire like On Form And City Boys. By singing live on the prestigious Grammys stage, the Nigerian made musical history by becoming the first afrobeats artist to perform this performance.

This is not the first time that Burna Boy’s presence at the American music awards ceremony has made him a pioneer. When he won the Grammy for best “world music” album in 2021 for his album Twice as Tall (2020), it becomes thehe first Nigerian male artist to be awarded for an original work.

In recent years, big names in Afrobeats including Burna Boy, Davido, WizKid, Tems and Rema, have filled the biggest concert halls in the world and collaborated with global superstars like Ed Sheeran, Beyonce, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber. In 2021, Wizkid received the Grammy for Best Music Video for his participation in Beyoncé’s song, Brown Skin Girl. In 2023, singer Tems became the first Nigerian artist to win a Grammy Award for co-writing Lift Me Up by Rihanna for the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Over 223 million hours listened to

“We are at the top right now. Our work for Nigeria to impact the music industry started decades ago,” declared Titilope Adesanya, director of operations for the Africa branch of the American label Empire, to AFP before the Grammys ceremony. With more than 223 million hours of listening and 7.1 billion streams on Spotify in 2023, Afrobeats is one of the hottest musical genres in the world, according to figures published on the platform’s website listening.

The musical genre, which mixes traditional African rhythms and contemporary pop, finds its roots in Nigeria in the 1970s under the influence of the artist Fela Kuti, founding father of afrobeat (without “s”). “Contemporary afrobeats has existed for around 20 years thanks to Nigerian artists like D’Banj and the group P-Square. The genre is today carried by a whole generation of Nigerian artists”, Olivier Laouchez, head of the Trace music channel group, told AFP. Nigeria, with a population of 200 million, enjoys a large diaspora which plays an undeniable role in the growth of Nigerian music.

“African music has been dominant for years. You ask me if we should have been recognized Before ? Certainly. Things take time”, Davido told France 24 during an interview about the Grammys, before performing in the packed Accor Arena in Paris. It is again to the time that the Nigerian artist referred to when consoling his fans, disappointed that he was not rewarded, just like the big names of the genre in the running for the first Grammy for best African musical performance. “I love each of you (…) We will continue to work…”, wrote the Nigerian artist on