Grammy Nominations: Winners and losers in Nigerian music industry
The 66th Grammy season kicks off with nominations but not every Nigerian applicant got the nod. Some smiled while others frowned; here is a breakdown of the winners and losers.
It deserves to be mentioned that it’s been a while since you read and heard from your favourite entertainment newsletter. For a publication that is based in Nigeria, for now, the harsh socio-economic realities in the country did not leave out AfroDives. With a humble heart, remorseful face and bent knees, kindly welcome us back. Yaay!
A lot has happened since our last issue on Mohbad’s painful demise, a whole lot and there are too many issues to pick from and pick apart. The focus for this issue, notwithstanding, is the recent rollout from the Recording Academy towards the 66th Grammy Awards.
The nominations for the 2024 Grammys were made on Friday, November 10th, 2023, and it was another landmark for the Nigerian music industry as Afrobeats continues to gain more visible recognition on the global stages.
For neutrals, the nominations, which were perhaps the most for our music industry in one night, with not less than eight bagged by Nigerian artistes, are momentous. The nominated artistes will agree with the neutrals but there are those who had a bad taste left in their mouths afterwards.
Here is a breakdown of the winners and losers from the 66th Grammys nominations:
Winners
Olamide and YBNL
I have always opined that the present streaming era, which is mainly about numbers, does a huge injustice to the generation-defining influence of Olamide Adedeji. We now have a whole generation whose consciousness came alive with Digital Streaming Platforms (DSPs - 2018 till date) making slanders and sacrileges here and there, oblivious of perhaps the most culturally impacting artiste in the modern industry.
More so, Baddoo has had a terrific run with his record label YBNL but not many could have envisaged it becoming a Grammy-recognised powerhouse. It is perhaps understandable given Olamide’s relatively quieter international acclaim.
However, the prodigy Asake whose meteoric rise has been unprecedented has ensured that his boss wouldn’t call time on active singing without a real shot at getting a gramophone.
Alongside Davido, all of Nigeria’s big 4 (including Burna and Wizkid) are now Grammy nominees. Bragging rights for their fans and a fulfilling moment for all the parties involved, including Asake who continues to stretch the ever-elastic limits of his wondrous career.
Davido
There is hardly any musician who gets flogged for his Grammy ‘shortcomings’ more than Davido. The energy with which he prides himself as 001 is the same with which critics flog him for not being noticed by the Grammy jury.
I analyzed why the DMW boss wasn’t getting Grammy nods, and rightly so. Now, the jinx has been broken and it is down to several reasons, chief among them being the constant evolution of the Grammys.
Three nominations are not a bad way to try to catch up after being left behind for some time. Delay is not denial.
The Mavin Crew
The Don Jazzy-directed music talent hub has had an array of super talents over the years ranging from Wande Coal, Tiwa Savage to Reekado and Johnny Drille. However, it’s a Gen Z whiz kid who brings Mavin the elusive Grammy recognition.
Even though there are cynical opinions that the current crop of artistes on Mavin’s books feeds off the label’s vast resources and Don Jazzy’s savvy rather than actual talent, Ayra Starr’s Grammy nomination for her single ‘Rush’ is a sizzling rebuttal.
It’s also a win for the Don, for his unmatched longevity in the music industry.
Burna Boy
Despite the unsavoury controversy courted by Burna Boy in the buildup to the release of his seventh studio album, I Told Them, he continues to set the pace, particularly in Grammy recognitions.
It is his fifth consecutive year of getting Grammy nominations, with the four nominations this year his highest ever, making a career total of 10 nominations with one win.
Losers
Rema
Getting a Grammy nomination some days before his sold-out show at the 02 Arena would have been a perfect buildup to a historic moment for the ‘Prince of Afrobeats’ but it was not to be.
In the past year, he has delivered Afrobeats’ biggest song in Calm Down, won numerous awards, performed in unexplored regions and lent his voice at crucial moments.
Rema would have relished a Grammy nomination but he’ll take solace in the others he has won and that he had a global star moment performing during the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris some weeks ago.
Kizz Daniel
Kizz Daniel’s ambitions of winning a Grammy is well-documented but following Friday’s announcement, he will have to wait at least another year to get his wish. He was able to Buga his way to the World Cup in Qatar but couldn’t get the attention of the Recording Academy.
The talented musician will surely fancy his chances again and if he can continue to dominate the airwaves, it will only be a matter of time.
Wizkid
Africa’s Starboy has had to deal with grief in recent times, taking his attention away from music. However, long before that, particularly after the release of his More Love, Less Ego album, critics felt that the album didn’t quite meet the standard and acclaim of Made in Lagos which delivered the hit track Essence, and it is hard to argue against it.
His fans would point to his 2021 Grammy win as enough but a lot more people would be happy to see Big Wiz gain more global recognition. Till he releases another project before that can happen though. Let’s hope it’ll be soon.