Grammy’s 2025—a recap
Story by: Olive Gibbon
The Grammy awards 2025 have taken place, witnessing Beyonce’s Album of the Year ‘Cowboy Carter’, Kenrick Lamar’s Record and Song of the Year ‘Not Like Us’, Chappell Roan as Best New Artist, and the show’s dedication to grieving the Los Angeles wildfires last month.
But this year was also the second time that the music awards have included a ‘Best African Music Performance’, the category that debuted last year. Nigerian singer Tems won the category, for her song Love Me Jeje, taking the win over nominees that included Burna Boy’s ‘City Boys’, Yemi Alade’s ‘Tomorrow’, and Wizkid and Asake’s ‘MMS’.
Tems was nominated for three awards this year – with ‘Burning’ nominated for Best R&B Song, and her album ‘Born in the Wild’ nominated for Best Global Music Album.
But an element of controversy has arisen regarding the category that saw her win, even in its infancy. The inclusion of US R&B star Chris Brown, an American artist, for his song ‘Sensational’ has initiated some debate. His song features vocals from the Nigerian artists Davido and Lojay and is recognised to embed Afrobeat elements.
The Grammy CEO Harvey Mason Jr defended the participation of an American artist in an African music category. “If we start deciding who can or who can’t make a certain type of music, we lose the essence of creativity”, he stated, “we like to honour all music [regardless of] where it comes from or who makes it.”
The introduction of the Grammy category was welcomed last year, particularly by African artists, with South Africa’s Tyla winning the award with ‘Water’. The hegemony of Afrobeats has also been highlighted, with some saying this comes at the expense of other African music genres.
