Burna & Wizkid’s Grammy Award – A Win for African Music

It’s a great week to be Nigerian. Sunday night was monumental for Nigerian artists because not one but two Nigerian artists won the prestigious Grammy award. Burna boy, real name Damini Ogulu, won a grammy for his album ‘Twice As Tall’ and Wizkid, real name Ayo Balogun was recognized for his collaboration with Beyonce on ‘Brown Skin Girl, which won the Best Music Video.

These awards aren’t just big wins for the artists; it’s a big win for Nigeria and Africa as a whole, the last time a Nigerian artist won the award was in 2009 when Sikiru Adepoju won an award for his contribution to the ‘Global Drum Project’; before that Babatunde Olatunji made history in 1991 for his contribution to ‘Planet Drum’, a foreign body of work as the first Nigerian ever to win a Grammy, since then its been an uphill struggle to be given Global recognition for the work we’ve done in contribution to the music industry.

Last year Burna boy came really close with his African Giant album but lost out to Beninese singer Angelique Kidjo. It was a second time lucky for him, though, and a remarkable win as this is the first time that a Nigerian artist has won a Grammy for his original work; this in itself is a moment that will be marked in history.

After the Global success of ‘African Giant’, we were all rooting for Burna boy to win a Grammy for that album; it was, after all, a solid body of work. But we quickly learned that the music made for the fans and made to win awards were not always the same, as we quickly discovered with the release of ‘Twice As Tall’. This was an album curated to be competitive; this writer predicted that not only would it be nominated, but it would also win, and I was right.

The Grammy is the most prestigious global award in recording history; every artist aspires to be recognised by the ‘Academy’, so these wins signal that African music, Afrobeats if you like “, is here to stay.” We’re no longer relegated to an obscure corner as ‘traditional ethnic folk music; we’re global contenders. Afrobeats is more than an acceptable genre of music; it’s part of the music industry’s lifeblood now.

Burna Boy’s win will inspire other African artists to create projects that appeal to global audiences. Whether or not you think this is a good thing for the African sound, it will lead to more attention from influential celebrities and global labels focusing on Africa as an emerging market for talent.

I see this ushering us into a new era, one that opens up the African market; I see more publishing deals, more awards, and more revenue; this could lead to a more structured musical industry that will benefit all artists and help to measure chart success in Africa and monetize the industry properly.

London, United Kingdom. 3rd November 2019. Burnaboy Performed at his African Giant Tour. Photographed by Michael Tubes

Burna & Wizkid’s Grammy Award – A Win for African Music

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