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Billboard lists five songs to be nominated for Best African Music Performance at the Grammy Awards.
The nominees for the newly introduced Best African Music Performance category at the Grammy Awards are eagerly anticipated by fans and industry experts.
Billboard has provided some insight into the songs that could potentially receive nominations in this category, adding to the excitement surrounding the Grammy Awards 2024 nomination announcement on November 10, 2023.
The introduction of the Best African Music Performance category is a significant development at the Grammy Awards, reflecting the global impact and recognition of African music. Harvey Mason Jr., the CEO of the Recording Academy, has emphasized the importance of this category, recognizing the diverse and vibrant music coming from the African continent.
He said, “There’s a threshold that you like to see for a genre of music before it actually could make for a healthy category. When you talk about music coming from Africa, you’re seeing Afrobeats grow, you’re seeing amapiano and other genres coming out of the continent over the last three to five years. That started the discussions around, ‘Is it the right time?’ ”
As anticipation builds, music enthusiasts and artists alike are eager to see which African performers and songs will be honored with nominations in this prestigious category, further showcasing the richness and diversity of African music on the global stage.
Additionally, Billboard provided insight into how the genre is seen. The entertainment company stated, “The new category represents the music by African musicians’ explosive economic and cultural appeal in the United States. Its expansion in recent years has been nearly linear:
The RIAA will certify Davido’s 2017 track “Fall” as the first Nigerian song to achieve gold in the US in 2020; “Essence” by Wizkid and Tems became the first Afropop song to enter the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10 in 2021;
The highest-charting Afro-fusion album in the history of the charts, Love, Damini by Burna Boy, debuted at No. 14 in 2022; in May, Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” became the first song to ever top both the U.S. Afrobeats Songs and Pop Airplay charts and peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100. “Calm Down” was published too soon to be eligible.
The following songs were mentioned as potential nominees for this award when discussing the newly created category:
2 Sugar – Wizkid ft. Ayra Starr
People – Libianca
Unavailable – Davido ft. Musa Keys
PNDS – Adekunle Gold ft. Zinoleesky
Amapiano – Asake ft. Olamide