Popular
Photo by Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Africa was Well Represented At The 2023 Grammys​

The West's biggest night in music started off with a bang, a snub, and a whole lot of shimmer.

Music's big night out brought out some of Africa's biggest and brightest to lend their glamour to the red carpet.

Here are the African musicians attending the 2023 Grammy Awards:

Tems

Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

The world belongs to Tems, baby! The Nigerian songstress becomes the first female Nigerian artist to win a Grammy award as she scooped her Best Melodic Rap Performance win alongside American rapper Future and Drake on their hit collab 'Wait For U'. Draped in a custom Viviane Westwood evening gown, the singer continues to break records as she adds the latest win to her abundant collection.

Trevor Noah 

Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images

South African comedian Trevor Noah was tasked with keeping tonight's crowd entertained and in order during the ceremony at Los Angeles's Crypto.com arena.

Rocky Dawuni

Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Ghanaian singer-songwriter Rocky Dawuni brought along his beautiful daughter Safiyah Dawuni to celebrate his nominated single "Neva Bow Down" featuring Jamaican Blvk H3ro. The two-time Grammy-nominated musician lost out on this year's award for Best Global Music Performance.

Yola 

Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

British-born Ghanaian Barbadian singer-songwriter Yola attends the award show for her work in the 2022 musical/drama hit Elvis.

Zakes Bantwini, Nomcebo Zikode, Wouter Kellerman

Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Halala! South African threesome Wouter Kellerman, Zakes Bantwini, and Nomcebo Zikodeshowed up to snag this year's Best Global Music Performance award for their hit single "Bayethe." The collaborator's win set the internet ablaze as they beat Africa's Giant, Nigerian artist Burna Boy.

Doja Cat 

Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Doja Cat is clearly having a ball with her fashion sense lately, this time, the "Woman" songstress channeled her inner femme fatale in a black leather look by Versace. The singer was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Record of The Year, Best Music Video, Best Rap Performance, and Best Solo Performance.

Eddy Kenzo

Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images

Ugandan singer Eddy Kenzo waved the flag proudly this Sunday as he attended as the country's first Grammy nominee to date. The crooner missed out on this year's Best Global Music Performance award for his track "Gimme Love" with American rapper Matt B, but we trust the Masaka-born star will be back with a vengeance.

Music

Rocky Dawuni On His Grammy Nomination & the Power of Ghanaian Music

We talk to Rocky about what’s at stake as African-rooted genres become global.

Earlier this year, Ghanaian singer-songwriter and producer Rocky Dawuni opened his keynote speech at the World Day of African & Afrodescendant Culture in Accra by saying, “Culture is our identity. There has never been a people who have been able to rise to their highest potential without having their culture as a means of stating who they are.” This serves as the singular impetus behind Dawuni’s recently Grammy-nominated album Voice of Bunbon, Vol. 1, which he tells OkayAfrica is a “sonic journey of empowerment.”

On the heels of the announcement that the 2022 GRAMMYs Awards show had officially been rescheduled to April 3, Dawuni sat down with OkayAfrica to discuss the makings of his eighth studio album and its nomination in the category of Best Global Music Album, the cultural moment that popular African music presents to diasporic musicians and the diaspora at large, what it means to grow up in a royal traditional family of Bunbon, and what’s at stake as African-rooted genres such as afrobeats become global and a part of mainstream culture.

Read our conversation below.

Keep reading...Show less

get okayafrica in your inbox

news.

African Artists At The Grammys: Angélique Kidjo, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Rocky Dawuni & Jidenna Earn 2016 Nominations

Angélique Kidjo, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Zomba Prison Project, Rocky Dawuni, and Jidenna have all been nominated for 2016 Grammys.

Rocky Dawuni's Video Tribute To 'Nairobi'

Ghanaian reggae singer Rocky Dawuni returns with an ode to Kenya's capital city and a general call for peace in the video for "Nairobi."

Behind-The-Scenes At Rocky Dawuni's 'African Thriller' Shoot

See behind-the-scenes footage of Rocky Dawuni's shoot for "African Thriller," the new single off the album Branches of the Same Tree.

popular.