Wizkid, Burna Boy Win First Grammys Each

FUNSHO AROGUNDADE

Nigerian international superstars, Wizkid and Burna Boy have both won their very first Grammy awards Sunday night for two phenomenal pieces of art.

The two talented Nigerians won the award at the 63rd edition of the annual global rewarding event held in Los Angeles, United States and streamed live globally.

Wizkid opened the winning streak with the honour for the Grammy’s Best Music Video for Beyoncé’s “Brown Skin Girl” featuring the American diva’s daughter, Blue Ivy.

While Blue Ivy emerged as the second youngest artist to ever win a Grammy, this success also makes Wizkid the first Nigerian-based artiste to win a Grammy —a United States-based Nigerian drummer, Sikiru Adepoju was the first to have the honour when he won the Grammys in 2009.

He now has in his awards mantelpiece 1 Grammy, 3 BET Awards, 4 MOBO Awards, 2 Soul Train Awards, 1 ASCAP Award, 3 Billboard Music Awards, 2 iHeart Radio Awards, 1 Echo Award, 1 NAACP Award, 1 Teen Choice Award, 1 MTV EMA.

Wizkid also has 5 World Music Award nominations and 3 American Music Award nominations.

On his part, another Nigerian powerhouse, Burna Boy takes home the 63rd Grammys’ “Best Global Music Album” with his 2020 Twice As Tall album.

His album becomes the first Nigerian album to win a Grammy and the first Afrobeats album to win.

His album saw off competition from Antibalas’ ‘The Fu Chronicles’, Bebel Gilberto’s ‘Agora’, Anoushka Shankar’s ‘Love Letters’ and Tinariwen’s ‘Amadjar’ to clinch the much-coveted gong at the award ceremony.

Burna Boy is winning the Grammy for the first time. This is also the second time the ‘Ye’ crooner will be nominated for the prestigious awards.

Burna Boy was nominated in the ‘Best World Music Album’ category for his ‘African Giant‘ album last year but lost to Angelique Kidjo, Beninese singer-songwriter.

“You could feel BurnaBoy’s unrestrained joy for getting his Grammy win. He’s worked for it, stayed on course, delivered two beautiful albums to elevate our music industry, and now he’s got it.” said Joey Akan, a music journalist.