The winners of the 65th annual Grammy Awards were announced at a premiere ceremony live from Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on Sunday (February 5th).
Tems won a Grammy for “Best Melodic Rap Performance” for her appearance and participation on Future and Drake’s “Wait For U” single. The 2022 track won out over songs from other artists, including Jack Harlow (“First Class”), Kendrick Lamar (“Die Hard”), Latto (“Big Energy (Live)”), and DJ Khaled (“Beautiful”). The Tems-sampling track landed on Future’s album I Never Liked You, released in 2022.
Tems was nominated for both Album of the Year and Best Rap Song for her work on Beyoncé’s Renaissance. Her song “Wait For U” was up for both awards. The Nigerian-born singer became the first Nigerian female artist to win the most coveted artist trophy with her victory, which marked her first career Grammy.
Aside from that, Burna Boy, who won a Grammy for Twice As Tall in 2021, did not win any of the awards in which he was nominated this year. With his crossover hit “Last Last,” he lost to Wouter Kellerman, Zake Bantwini, and Nomcebo Zikode’s “Bayethe” for Best Global Music Performance. With “Love, Damini,” he lost to Masa Takumi’s “Sakura” for Best Global Music Album.
With his Blvk H3ro-assisted “Neva Bow Down,” Rocky Dawuni, the most nominated Ghanaian artist at the GRAMMYs, also lost the Best Global Music Performance award to Wouter Kellerman, Zake Bantwini, and Nomcebo Zikode’s “Bayethe.” Angelique Kidjo’s collaborative album “Queen Of Sheba” fell short of winning the Best Global Music Album category, losing out to Masa Takumi’s “Sakura”
In 1959, “artistic achievement, technical proficiency, and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position” became the purpose of the Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy, which oversees the Grammys, bestowed the award for world music for the first time in 1992.
