Grammy Awards: Wizkid lost to Arooj Aftab & Angélique Kidjo
Following a brief hiatus due to covid, the Grammy’s came back in full force for its 64th edition.
The star-studded ceremony was held in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas last night (Sunday, April 3rd), hosted by South African comedian Trevor Noah.
This Year, Nigerian musicians Wizkid, Femi Kuti, and Ghanian artist Rocky Dawuni were among the plethora of superstars nominated for the “Best Global Music” album.
The Made In Lagos crooner Wizkid was nominated for the “Best Global Music performance category. For ‘Essence’. And he also received a second nomination for “Best Global Music album” for “Made in Lagos”. Album.
However, the starboy lost both nominations to Brooklyn-based Pakistani vocalist Arooj Aftab and Beninese singer and songwriter Angelique Kidjo, making it the fifth Grammy win of her 40-year career.
The 61-year old singer was nominated alongside Femi Kuti and son, Made, WizKid (all from Nigeria), Ghana’s Rocky Dawuni, and Hawaii’s Daniel Ho.
During her speech, Angelique, who has won the Grammy four times, said it is a “big win for Africa.”
Wizkid’s loss shocked many who anticipated a double win for the singer in both categories. And while he is yet to make comments in regards to the awards, his army of fans, also known as Wizkid Fc, other notable musicians and industry trailblazers set Twitter ablaze as they vented their frustrations and here are some of the reactions:
@prince_ll tweeted, “I don’t know much and don’t speak much on these things, but we ALL KNOW that award belongs to ‘Essence’ They gave the world an ANTHEM.
@kvngpheez tweeted, “How did Wizkid not win?? Please explain this?? This was clearly a home run!! He took the USA by storm, no disrespect to the winner, but we all saw the impact #mil made in the US – daylight robbery!”
@omojuwa “Wizkid and ‘Essence’ should have won. It wasn’t fair that it didn’t get nominated in the mainstream categories. It’s the nature of the systems anyway, lock others out until they force their way in.
Many also went over to Kidjo’s social media page, and as a result, the songstress had to disable the comments section on her Instagram post. However, this did not deter fans who took to her previous posts to express their discontent about her success.
Nigerian Afropop singer Yemi Alade, who is now a Grammy winner courtesy of her collaboration with Angelique, also retweeted a post by @PapiWater, explaining that “Mother Nature” celebrated Africans uniqueness and victims of the #EndSARS protests in Nigeria and climate change—justifying why Beninese legend, Angelique Kidjo’s ‘Mother Nature’ album deserved to win the Best Global Music Album at the 64th Grammy Awards ceremony.
The post read, “Angelique Kidjo dropped an album in which the headline song talked about the dangers of climate change-induced disasters (that the West is worried about) and how it will impact Africa more, but you are wondering why she won a Grammy for that body of work”.
“Stop playing. Please take your time to listen to the album. Listen to ‘Africa, One of a Kind’ and ‘Mother Nature’. Drop your Pangolo expectations before you listen to them so you can enjoy good music.”
We waited a LONG TIME for Wizkid to stop moving RECKLESS when he teased this SWEET ONE, but time is of the ESSENCE, and nonetheless, we are still grateful for all he has done and all that is to come as he continues to fly the flag for not just Afrobeats, but for Africa.
Lastly, stay up to date with all you need to know about African music at SOA, right here.
