On November 20, 2019, nominations for the 62nd Grammy Awards were
announced at 2:30 pm.
Burna Boy’s album, African Giant got nominated in the Best World Music
Album category. He was nominated in the category alongside Altin Gün
for Gece, Bokanté & Metropole Orkest Conducted By Jules Buckley for
What Heat, Nathalie Joachim With Spektral Quartet for Fanm D’Ayiti,
and Angelique Kidjo for Celia.
But Burna Boy is not the first Nigerian to get a Grammy Award
nomination. This article will document Burna Boy and the five other
Nigerians to get nominated for a Grammy Award. Please note that this
list only includes Nigerians who got nominated for their own work and
not ones who got nominated by association.
Here is the list;
a.) Artiste: King Sunny Ade
Profession: Artiste, Instrumentalist, Musician
Nominated for: Syncro System (1984), Odu (1999)
Category: Best Ethnic of Traditional Folk Recording, Best World Music Album
Year: 1984, 1999
Result: Nominated
b.) Artiste: Femi Kuti
Profession: Artist, Performer, Instrumentalist, Musician
Nominated for: Fight to Win (1999), Day by Day (2010), Africa for
Africa (2012), No Place for My Dream (2014)
Category: Best World Music Album (1999, 2012, 2014), Best Contemporary
World Music Album (2010)
Year: 1999, 2010, 2012, 2014
Result: Nominated
c.) Artiste: Seun Kuti and Egypt 80
Profession: Artist, Performer, Instrumentalist, Musician
Nominated for: Black Times
Category: Best World Music Album
Year: 2018
Result: Nominated
d.) Artiste: Babatunde Olatunji
Profession: Drummer
Nominated for: Love Drum Talk
Category: Best World Music Award
Year: 1998
Result: Nominated
e.) Artiste: Burna Boy
Profession: Artiste, Performer
Nominated for: African Giant (2020)
Category: Best World Music Award
Year: 2020
Status: TBA
