Nigerian afrobeats stars sure of 2025 Grammy revenge

Pallade Veneta - Nigerian afrobeats stars sure of 2025 Grammy revenge

Nigerian afrobeats stars sure of 2025 Grammy revenge / Photo: Frederic J. Brown - AFP/File

Nigeria's afrobeats stars are assured of a comeback at next year's Grammy Awards, after winning a clean sweep of nominations for "Best African Musical Performance".

Change text size:

February's ceremony will mark only the second time the category has been awarded, and this year's debut saw Nigerian talent pushed aside by South Africa's Tyla.

But all five tracks in the running next year are from Nigeria or performed with Nigerian artists, guaranteeing revenge.

This week's nominations were for "Higher" by Burna Boy, "Love Me JeJe" by Tems, "MMS" by Asake and Wizkid and "Tomorrow" by Yemi Alade.

The fifth song on the list is Chris Brown's "Sensational", on which the American artist is accompanied by Nigerian performers Davido and Lojay.

Tems became the first Nigerian singer to win a Grammy in 2023 after she co-wrote Rihanna's "Lift Me Up" for the soundtrack of the movie "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever".

In addition to her nomination in the 2025 African performance category, she is now also shortlisted for "Best International Album", as is fellow Nigerian Rema.

According to streaming site Spotify, afrobeats -- a mix of traditional rhythms and modern pop -- is one of the world's most popular musical genres.

Music fans listened to 223 million hours of the music on 7.1 billion streams in 2023.

Afrobeats has its roots in the afrobeat (no 's') pioneered by Nigerian megastar Fela Kuti in 1970s Lagos and has been influenced by international hip-hop and rhythm and blues.

Exported to the West African diaspora in Britain and the United States, the genre is breaking through into the international mainstream and music awards circuit.

Music is also one of the many spheres of rivalry between Nigeria and fellow African cultural giant South Africa, which is exporting its "amapiano" sound.

South Africa's Tyla and her song "Water" beat four Nigerian artists to snatch this year's African performance Grammy, but she has no nominations for next year's awards.

R.Zarlengo--PV

Worcestershire road closures announced for Remembrance Sunday events

MOTORISTS are being warned to expect road closures across Worcestershire this weekend as towns and villages come together to mark Remembrance Sunday. A number of parades and services will take place this Sunday (November 8), giving residents the opportunity to remember members of the Armed Forces who have served and lost their lives in wars and other conflicts.

Kuwait marks key events and anniversaries from national history

KUWAIT: Following are events that took place in Kuwait on November 4: 1984 — Poet Abdullah Al-Sanan, whose poems reflected social, economic and political changes, died at the age of 67. 1990 — Syrian forces arrived in the Saudi port of Yanbu to join the international coalition troops stationed in Saudi Arabia to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqi occupation.

Qatar media bodies discuss support for humanitarian initiatives

Qatar Media Corporation, in collaboration with the Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities (RACA), organized a seminar titled 'Developmental Media and Philanthropic Work: A Partnership for Sustainable Impact' to mark World Development Information Day. The event featured the participation of a distinguished group of media professionals, experts, and representatives from various charitable and humanitarian organizations and associations in Qatar.

Vessel operator seeks witnesses after Vancouver grounding

VANCOUVER — The operator of a vessel that ran aground on a sandbar off Vancouver last month says “malicious” tampering was the cause and he’s urging witnesses to come forward. Kevin Skewes, the owner of Spirit Cruises, says someone hit the Pride of Vancouver’s kill switch on the night of Oct.