Revelling in their success at the just concluded MOBO awards, Nigerian music stars – Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (Burna Boy) and Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (WizKid) – have been nominated for the 63rd Grammy Music Awards scheduled to take place on 31st January 2021.
Burna Boy’s ‘Twice as Tall’ was nominated for Best Global Music Album of the Year while Wizkid was nominated alongside Beyoncé, her daughter, Blue Ivy, who is the youngest Grammy nominee and Saint Jhn, in the song, ‘Brown Skin Girl’, for Best Music Video of the Year.
Another Nigerian, Jenn Nkiru, was also nominated in the Best Music Video of the Year category, for her directorial role in ‘Brown Skin Girl’. She directed the video together with Beyoncé.
Jenn Nkiru, who is described as Nigerian-British, had in the past directed Ricky Saiz’s video for Beyoncé and Jay-Z, ‘Apeshit’ as a second-unit director.
Burna Boy’s ‘Twice as Tall’ seems set to grab the title to crown the effort of having Diddy as Executive Producer and ColdPlay providing the hook in ‘Monsters You Made’, one of the tracks of the album.
The album also features Grammy award winners – Youssou N’Dour, and Naughty by Nature; and multiple award winners – Sauti Sol and Stormzy.
It is a mix of a mix of afrobeat, reggae, dancehall, hip-hop, and EDM.
Burna Boy had lost the 2020 Grammy for Best World Music Album to celebrated Beninois singer Angélique Kidjo, an idol and collaborator.
The Brown Skin Girl video also looks good to grab the Best Music Video Grammy as it features an array of notable persons – Lupita Nyong’o, Naomi Campbell and fellow Destiny’s Child, Kelly Rowland.
Rolling Stone magazine describes it as stunning.
The 2021 Grammy Music awards which airs on CBS on 31st January 2021 will be hosted by South African comic, Trevor Noah.
