Nigerian music stars, Burna Boy and Wizkid, on Sunday night, won their first-ever Grammy Awards.
Burna Boy bagged the much-coveted Grammy award in the ‘Best Global Album’ category for his ‘TWICE AS TALL’ album.
He was nominated alongside Tuareg Desert Rock group Tinariwen, NYC afrobeat outfit Antibalas, Brazilian-American Bebel Gilberto, and British-Indian sitar player Anoushka Shankar.
This is the second consecutive time Burna Boy has been nominated for the Grammys.
His previous album, ‘African Giant’ was nominated at the 62nd Grammy Awards for ‘Best World Music Album’, the award went to Beninoise singer, Angélique Kidjo, who dedicated the award to Burna Boy and said he was leading the pack of young Africans who will shake up the global music space.
Burna Boy performed a medley of his songs starting with the chorus of “20:10: 20” to “Level Up’ to ‘Onyeka’ and ‘Ye’, complemented by his band ‘The Outsiders.’ His performance was one of the high points of the Grammy Premiere Ceremony.
Burnaboy is the first winner of the recently renamed category, formerly known as Best World Music Album.
‘‘This a big win for my generation of Africans all over the world and this should be a lesson to every African out there, no matter where you are, no matter what you plan to do, you can achieve it because you are king,’’ Burna Boy, 29, said in his acceptance speech.
Burnaboy’s Grammy award-winning album was executive produced by his mum cum manager, Bosede Ogulu, and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
It also featured guest appearances from Naughty by Nature, the Kenyan band Sauti Sol, Senegal’s musical titan, Youssou N’Dour, and Chris Martin of Coldplay.
Wizkid, on the other hand, won a Grammy for the Best Music Video’ for his role in ‘Brown Skin Girl’, Beyonce’s 2019 hit song. The Best Music Video award is given to the artist, video director, and video producer.
Their video bested fellow nominees Future with Drake, Anderson.Paak, Harry Styles, and Woodkid
The Grammy Award (stylized as GRAMMY, originally called Gramophone Award), or just Grammy, is an award presented by the Recording Academy to recognize achievements in the music industry. The trophy depicts a gilded gramophone.
This year’s edition of the Grammys was earlier scheduled for January but postponed amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles.
See the full list of winners
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
WINNER: Lady Gaga with Ariana
Best R&B Album
WINNER: John Legend – Bigger Love
Best Progressive R&B Album
WINNER: Thundercat – It Is What It Is
Best R&B Song
WINNER: Robert Glasper Featuring H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello – Better Than I Imagine
Best Traditional R&B Performance
WINNER: Ledisi – Anything for You
Best Latin Jazz Album
WINNER: Arturo O’Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra – Four Questions
Chico Pinhero – City of Dreams
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
WINNER: Maria Schneider Orchestra – Data Lords
Best Jazz Instrumental Album
WINNER: Chick Corea, Christian McBride & Brian Blade – Trilogy 2
Redman Mehldau McBride Blade – Roundagain
Best Jazz Vocal Album
WINNER: Kurt Elling featuring Danilo Pérez – Secrets Are the Best Stories
Carmen Lundy – Modern Ancestors
Best Improvised Jazz Solo
WINNER: Chick Corea – All Blues
Best Alternative Music Album
WINNER: Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Best Musical Theater Album
WINNER: Jagged Little Pill
Best Comedy Album
WINNER: Tiffany Haddish – Black Mitzvah
Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling)
WINNER: Rachel Maddow – Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth
Best Children’s Music Album
WINNER: Joanie Leeds – All the Ladies
Best Global Music Album
WINNER: Burna Boy – Twice As Tall
Best Reggae Album
WINNER: Toots & the Maytals – Got to Be Tough
Best Regional Roots Music Album
WINNER: New Orleans Nightcrawlers – Atmosphere
Best Folk Album
WINNER: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – All the Good Times
Best Contemporary Blues Album
WINNER: Fantastic Negrito – Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?
Best Traditional Blues Album
WINNER: Bobby Rush – Rawer Than Raw
Best Bluegrass Album
WINNER: Billy Strings – Home
Best Americana Album
WINNER: Sarah Jarosz – World on the Ground
Best American Roots Song
WINNER: John Prine – I Remember Everything
Best American Roots Performance
WINNER: John Prine – I Remember Everything
Best Song Written for Visual Media
WINNER: Billie Eilish – No Time to Die
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
WINNER: Hildur Guðnadóttir – Joker
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
WINNER: Jojo Rabbit
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
WINNER: Christopher Rouse – Rouse: Symphony No. 5
Best Classical Compendium
WINNER: Isabel Leonard – Thomas, M.T.: From the Diary of Anne Frank & Matt Haimovitz – Woolf, L.P.: Fire and Flood
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
WINNER: Sarah Brailey & Dashon Burton – Smyth: The Prison
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
WINNER: Richard O’Neill – Theofanidis: Concerto for Viola and Chamber Orchestra
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
WINNER: Pacifica Quartet – Contemporary Voices
Best Choral Performance
WINNER: James K. Bass, J’Nai Bridges, Timothy Fallon, Kenneth Overton, Hila Plitmann & Matthew Worth; Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus & UCLA Chamber Singers – Danielpour: The Passion of Yeshua.
Best Opera Recording
WINNER: The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera
Best Orchestral Performance
WINNER: Los Angeles Philharmonic – Ives: Complete Symphonies
Best Tropical Latin Album
WINNER: Grupo Niche – 40
Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)
WINNER: Natalia Lafourcade – Un Canto por México, Vol. 1
Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album
WINNER: Rito Paez – La Conquesta del Espacio
Producer of the Year, Classical
WINNER: David Frost
Best Engineered Album, Classical
WINNER: Riccardo Muti & Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, “Babi Yar”
Best Remixed Recording
WINNER: Saint Jhn – Roses (Imanbek Remix)
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
WINNER: Beck – Hyperspace
Best Historical Album
WINNER: Mister Rogers – It’s Such a Good Feeling: The Best of Mister Rogers
Best Album Notes
WINNER: The Replacements – Dead Man’s Pop
Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
WINNER: Wilco – Ode to Joy
Best Recording Package
WINNER: Desert Sessions – Vols. 11 & 12
Best Roots Gospel Album
WINNER: Fisk Jubilee Singers – Celebrating Fisk! (The 150th Anniversary Album)
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
WINNER: Kanye West – Jesus Is King
Best Gospel Album
WINNER: PJ Morton – Gospel According to PJ.
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
WINNER: Zach Williams & Dolly Parton – There Was Jesus
Best Gospel Performance/Song
WINNER: Jonathan McReynolds & Mali Music – Movin’ On
Best New Age Album
WINNER: Jim “Kimo” West – More Guitar Stories
Best Music Film
WINNER: Linda Ronstadt – Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
Best Music Video
WINNER: Beyoncé – Brown Skin Girl
Best Arrangement, Instruments, and Vocals
WINNER: Jacob Collier – He Won’t Hold You
Best Arrangement, Instrumental, or A Cappella
WINNER: John Beasley – Donna Lee
Best Instrumental Composition
WINNER: Maria Schneider – Sputnik
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
WINNER: Snarky Puppy – Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Best Dance/Electronic Album
WINNER: Kaytranada – Bubba
Best Dance Recording
WINNER: Kaytranada Featuring Kali Uchis – 10%