Wizkid, Tems missing from African Grammy-Award winners’ list

By Taiwo Okanlawon

Nigerian superstars Wizkid and Tems are noticeably missing from the list released by Grammys containing African singers who have won the prestigious Award.

Ahead of its 66th Grammy Awards on February 4, the organisers recently shared a listicle of African musicians who have taken home golden gramophones since the 1960s.

According to the list, Miriam Makeba, the late South African singer, remained the first from Africa to win a Grammy award. Sade, the pop singer, followed in the list, making her the first Nigerian to win the global award while Burna Boy is the most recent and last Nigerian to win the prestigious gong.

Below are the 10 winners from Africa, according to the Grammys:

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

The list has, however, stirred an unending pot of controversy on social media platforms due to the exclusion of Wizkid and Tems, the Nigerian music heavyweights.

On March 14, 2021, Wizkid won his first-ever Grammy award for his role in ‘Brown Skin Girl’, a 2019 song by Beyonce, the American musician. The project won the ‘Best Music Video’ category.

The ‘Ojuelegba’ hitmaker feat came at about the same time when Burna Boy won his first Grammy award; clinching the ‘Best Global Music Album’ category for ‘Twice As Tall‘, his 2020 project.