Wizkid Gets 1st Grammy Nomination
The Nigerian pop star makes the list for his contribution to Drake’s 2016 “Views” album. The singer was a prominent contributor on the lead single, ‘One Dance’, where he is nominated as a guest artiste, and also as a producer.
The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to “honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position. Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys having been presented since 1959.
Although it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the main artist, the featured artist(s), the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer.
If this award is won by Drake, Wizkid will be going home with two gongs. For production and guest feature on the album.
The Nigerian pop superstar is currently enjoying a great year in his career. Wizkid struck gold at this year’s MTV EMAs, earning one trophy at the global music spectacular show. The Nigerian star was honoured with trophy for Worldwide Act.
Prior to this Wizkid had earlier been announced as the winner of the Best African Act at the The 2016 Music of Black Origin, MOBO Awards ceremony, which took place in Glasgow, Scotland.
Also, at the 2016 AFRIMA awards which held at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotels & Suites, the singer was honoured as the Best Artiste on the continent. He came out victorious in a category that had Black Coffee, Diamond Platnumz, Eddy Kenzo, Hatim Ammor, Navio, Sarkodie, Sidikiba Diabate, Tekno, Tiwa Savage, and Zahara.
This marks a trifecta of awards for the young singer who has had a successful 2016.
Wizkid’s dominance this weekend is a result of this work. His single with Drake, ‘One Dance’ is a shoo-in for the 2016 Grammy award nominations, after gifting Drake his first career number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and also becoming the most streamed song of 2016. It is on the strength of this foray into the international market, and the success of the result.
He was also in his element in 2015, after concocting new ways to push past the continent and break his brand and music into wider markets. He rode around the continent, recording with just about everyone who mattered. Chris Brown, Rihanna and Drake were some of the biggest names.
He also did collaborate with South Africa’s DJ Maphorisa on ‘Soweto baby’, a song which fetched him the trophy for the Best Collaboration. He was also a star on Tinie Tempah’s ‘Mamacita’, and released ‘Shabba’, which featured Chris Brown, Trey Songz and French Montana.
All of these has ensured that the brand Wizkid is the biggest on the African continent at the moment, and award platforms recognise that, leading to a deluge of them. It’s been raining awards for ‘Baba Nla’, and this past weekend signified a new peak.