South Africa’s Tyla Beat Burna Boy & Davido to Win Grammy for Best African Music Performance
The 66th annual Grammy Awards ceremony took place in Los Angeles, US, with 94 nominations distributed to honor outstanding achievements in the music industry.
South African singer Tyla, real name Tyla Laura Seethal, has bagged Grammy award in the Best African Music Performance category.
The Johannesburg native won the award for her Amapiano and R&B-inspired song “Water,” which gained global popularity thanks in part to its virality on social media.
Tyla beat out other African stars including Burna Boy, Ayra Starr, ASAKE & Olamide and Davido (all Nigerians) to be recognized in the first-ever Grammy category for African artists.
“Oh my gosh, guys. This is crazy. Like I never thought I’d say, ‘I won a Grammy at 22 years old, guys’,” she said. “If you don’t know me, my name is Tyla. I’m from South Africa and last year God decided to change my whole life, so thank you so much to God. Thank you to my team, my family; I know my mother’s crying somewhere in here.”
As for other African artists, Nigerian Afrobeats Titans Davido and BurnaBoy were nominated in two other categories, Best Global Music Album and Best Global Music Performance. However, both artists went home without awards, losing in the first nomination to the British-Indian group with their album “This moment.”
In the second category, the Nigerians lost to the US-Indian line-up of Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer & Zakir Hussain featuring Rakesh Chaurasia with the single “Pashto.”
Globally, Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” was named the best song of the year and Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” was recognized as the best album at the Grammys.
One of the “headliners” of the ceremony was the US rapper Killer Mike, who won three awards. What made his night remarkable, however, was the fact that the musician was handcuffed by police after the ceremony – he was charged with battery.
The “Gramophone Awards”, now known as the Grammys, were first presented in 1958. The Recording Academy, based in California, presents what are considered by many to be the most prestigious and significant awards in the global music industry.
