The Recording Academy announced nominations for various categories for the 2025 and 67th Grammys Awards on Friday, November 8, 2024, with many Nigerian artists listed in the major categories.
Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, received three nominations in the 2025 Grammy Awards, including Best R&B Song for “Burning,” “Best African Music Performance for “Love Me Jeje,” “and Best Global Music Album category for her album “Born in the Wild.” With her three nominations, she joined this year’s highest-nominated artist list.
Yemi Alade also landed her first-ever Grammy nomination. The Nigerian singer, known for her vibrant stage presence and powerful vocals, earned the nod for her song “Tomorrow”, a track from her 2024 album “Rebel Queen.” However, the Grammy nominations caused a stir after some X (formerly Twitter) users raised speculations about Ayra Starr not getting nominated despite smashing records locally and globally in the year in review.
Ayra Starr’s great year
Questions about her qualifications are baseless as the singer has proven to be a formidable competitor in the music industry.
So far, the singer has bagged awards such as the 2023 Headies Best Female Artiste award and Amazon’sBreakthrough Artist 2023. She has also received several nominations, including a Grammy 2024 nomination for Best African Music Performance for her song “Rush” and three for this year’s BET Awards, including Best New Artist, International Act, and Best Her with “Commas.” Following the release of her second studio album, “The Year I Turned 21,” in June 2024, the album peaked at No. 1 on Apple Music in over 11 African countries, top 10 in countries across continents, and number 6 in the UK Apple Album Charts. This made Starr the highest-charting African artist in the UK, setting a significant record.
She also recently hit the 1 billion streams mark worldwide for her song “Rush,” which won two awards at the African Entertainment Awards, US, for Best Female Artist Central/West Africa and Best Female Artist after receiving four nominations and is currently on tour with Coldplay as the opening act for their Music of the Spheres 2024 World Tour.
Qing Madi
Another female artist who has had an amazing year is Qing Madi. At just 17, Madi released her self-titled debut EP with tracks like “See Finish” and “Ole”, which went on to top charts. Her song “Vision” later got a remix featuring American artist Chloe Bailey. Earlier this year, she was inducted into Apple Music’s Rising Class of 2024 along with Bloody Civilian and was named one of Billboard’s 21 Under 21 2024 most innovative and influential artists.
Bloody Civilian
The singer, songwriter, and record producer was recently featured in Lucid Monday, a producer-centric magazine, proof of her talent and unique production style. Being recognised alongside renowned producers like The Alchemist and Zaytoven is a significant achievement, especially as the only Nigerian producer on the list.
Additionally, her 2024 Grammy nomination earned her recognition as the female Grammy-nominated producer from Nigeria.
Tiwa Savage
Nigerian singer Tiwa also made history with the release of “Water & Garri” in May 2024, the soundtrack of her film of the same name. This marked a significant milestone in Tiwa’s career as the singer also made her debut role as an actor in the movie.
The fact remains that Nigerian female artists have consistently pushed boundaries in the music scene and beyond. Their talent, resilience, and contributions to the industry are a collective progress for Nigerian female artists who have gone from obscurity to global prominence. This means that one artist’s success empowers all women in music, and we are rooting for them to receive all the recognition they deserve.
