Nigerian music heavyweights Burna Boy, Ayra Starr, and Tems were all left empty-handed at the MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday night.
The trio had been nominated in the Best Afrobeats category, but South African artist Tyla took home the award with her hit song ‘Water’.
In her acceptance speech, Tyla highlighted the global impact of her track, stating: “The success of Water shows that African music can be pop music, too.” However, she expressed mixed emotions about the win, calling it “bittersweet” due to the tendency to lump all African artists under the Afrobeats genre. “African music is so diverse; it’s more than just Afrobeats,” Tyla added.
While African artists made their mark, it was Taylor Swift who stole the show, winning seven awards and making history as the most decorated solo artist in the VMAs’ history, including taking home the prestigious Video of the Year award.
READ ALSO : Tems, Tyla win big at 2024 BET Awards
Credible News recalls that Tems had emerged as a winner at the 2024 BET Awards, held at Los Angeles’s Peacock Theater on June 29.
Tems’ hit song “Me & U” clinched the Dr. Bobby Jones Best Gospel/Inspirational Award, triumphing over industry titans like Kirk Franklin, Shirley Caesar, and Maverick City.
Other Nigerian artistes, however, faced tough competition at this year’s BET Awards. Ayra Starr and Asake lost the Best International Act to South Africa’s Tyla.
The MTV Video Music Awards is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category), the annual MTV Video Music Awards ceremony has often been called the Super Bowl for youth, an acknowledgment of the VMA ceremony’s ability to draw millions of youth from teens to 20-somethings each year. By 2001, the VMA had become a coveted award.
The annual VMA ceremony occurs before the end of summer and held either in late August or mid-September, and broadcast live on MTV, along with a “roadblock” simulcast across MTV’s sister networks since 2014, which is utilized to maximize the ceremony’s ratings.
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