5th February, 2024
By Taiwo Okanlawon
Grammy award-winning singer, Damini Ogulu popularly known as Burna Boy, has become the first Nigerian artiste to make Afrobeats take center stage at the 2024 Grammys Awards.
The Afrobeats star performed during the main Grammy ceremony at Crypto.com Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Burna boy opened his performance at around 4 a.m. with a performance with “On Form,” then stomped his way into “City Boys” with his boys.
He eventually escorted 12-time Grammy nominee Brandy down to the main stage for “Sittin’ on Top of the World,” which samples her 1998 Mase-assisted track “Top of the World.”
21 Savage, who was featured in the remix of “Sittin’ On Top of the World” with Burna Boy, came out in an all-red fit to rap his verse. The onstage collaboration marks 21 Savage’s Grammy performance debut.
“Sittin’ on Top of the World” was released on June 1, 2023, as the lead single of Burna’s seventh studio album I Told Them…. The song peaked at No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached No. 2 on Rhythmic Airplay, while its parent album I Told Them… peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on World Albums.
His performance marked a historic milestone for Nigerian music as it is the first time an Afrobeats star has performed live on the world’s most prestigious music stage.
At the latest showpiece, the 66th Grammys, the ‘City Boys’ singer was nominated in four categories: Best Melodic Rap Performance for “Sittin’ on the Top of the World;” Global Music Performance for “Alone;” Best African Music Performance for “City Boys;” and Best Global Music Album for his seventh album, “I Told Them….”
He, however, failed to win in any of the categories; neither did any of the five other Nigerians who were up for Grammys year.
Burna boy bagged a Best Global Music album Grammy award at the 2021 Grammys. His ‘Twice as Tall” album won ahead of Tuareg Desert Rock group Tinariwen, NYC afrobeat outfit Antibalas, Brazilian-American Bebel Gilberto, and British-Indian sitar player Anoushka Shankar.
The win came a year after African music legend Angelique Kidjo beat him to the award.