The released list of African Grammy awardees has caused a stir on the internet after Nigerian singers, Wizkid and Tems were omitted.

The organisers released the list ahead of the 66th Grammy Awards set to take place on February 4, 2024.

According to the list, 10 Africans have bagged the golden awards since the 1960s, including:

Miriam Makeba (South Africa) — Best Folk Recording (with Harry Belafonte) – 1966

Sade Adu (Nigeria/UK) — Best New Artist – 1986

Ali Farka Touré (Mali) — Best World Music Album – 1994

Cesária Évora (Cape Verde) — Best Contemporary World Music Album – 2004

Youssou N’Dour (Senegal) — Best Contemporary World Music Album – 2005

Angélique Kidjo (Benin/France) — Best Contemporary World Music Album – 2008

RedOne (Morocco) — Best Dance/Electronic Album – 2010

Tinariwen (Mali/Algeria/Libya) — Best World Music Album – 2012

Burna Boy (Nigeria) — Best Global Music Album – 2021

Black Coffee (South Africa) – Best Dance/ Electronic Album — 2022

It was earlier reported that in 2021, Wizkid won his first-ever Grammy award in the ‘Best Music Video’ category for his appearance in ‘Brown Skin Girl’ by American singer Beyonce.

Tem also won her first Grammy award in the ‘Best Melodic Rap Performance’ category in 2023 for her performance in ‘Wait for U’, by Future featuring Drake.

The omission of the Nigeria superstars has led to questions about the Grammy Award organisers’ criteria for making the list.

As of the time of filing this report, the reason for the omission is yet to be known.

The 2024 Grammys includes a debut category of the ‘Best African Music Performance’ to recognise African artists for which Asake Olamide, Tems, Burna Boy, and Ayra Starr were nominated.

Wizkid, Tems missing on Grammy’s African winners’ list

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