Despite Nigeria’s consistent success at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the outcome at the 2024 Grammy Awards didn’t align with expectations for some of Africa’s music heavyweights.
Nigerian superstar Davido, nominated in three categories including Best African Music Performance, Best Global Music Performance, and Best Global Album Performance, did not secure a win in any of them. Similarly, Burna Boy, with four nominations across various categories including Best African Music Performance, Best Global Music Performance, Best Global Album Performance, and Best Melodic Rap Performance, also missed out on taking home any awards.
The highly coveted Best African Music Performance category saw South African artist Tyla clinch the victory with her song “Water,” surpassing other nominees such as Asake, Olamide, Ayra Starr, Burna Boy, and Musa Keys.
Despite the disappointments, there were still moments of excitement during the event. Burna Boy made history as the first African artist to perform live on the Grammy stage, introduced by Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. Additionally, South African comedian Trevor Noah added his signature humor as the host of the live show.
Reflecting on the evening, Davido expressed his contentment to Billboard at the pre-Grammy event, stating, “I’m just happy that we all get to shine.” Despite the absence of wins, the representation and performances by African artists marked significant strides in global recognition for the continent’s music industry.
See the complete list of winners at the 2024 Grammy Awards:
Best African Music Performance
ASAKE & Olamide — “Amapiano”
Burna Boy — “City Boys”
Davido Featuring Musa Keys — “UNAVAILABLE”
Ayra Starr — “Rush”
WINNER: Tyla — “Water”
Album of the Year
Boygenius — “The Record”
Janelle Monáe — “The Age of Pleasure”
Jon Batiste — “World Music Radio”
Lana Del Rey — “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd”
Miley Cyrus — “Endless Summer Vacation”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Guts”
SZA — “SOS”
WINNER: Taylor Swift — “Midnights”
Record of the Year
Billie Eilish — “What Was I Made For?”
Boygenius — “Not Strong Enough”
Jon Batiste — “Worship”
WINNER: Miley Cyrus — “Flowers”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Vampire”
SZA — “Kill Bill”
Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero”
Victoria Monét — “On My Mama”
Song of the Year
WINNER: Billie Eilish — “What Was I Made For?”
Dua Lipa — “Dance the Night”
Jon Batiste — “Butterfly”
Lana Del Rey — “A&W”
Miley Cyrus — “Flowers”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Vampire”
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SZA — “Kill Bill”
Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero”
Best New Artist
Coco Jones
Gracie Abrams
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Fred Again
Ice Spice
Jelly Roll
Noah Kahan
WINNER: Victoria Monét
The War and Treaty
Best Country Solo Performance
Tyler Childers — “In Your Love”
Brandy Clark — “Buried”
Luke Combs — “Fast Car”
Dolly Parton — “The Last Thing On My Mind”
WINNER: Chris Stapleton — “White Horse”
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
Dierks Bentley ft. Billy Strings — “High Note”
Brothers Osborne — “Nobody’s Nobody”
WINNER: Zach Bryan ft. Kacey Musgraves — “I Remember Everything”
Vince Gill & Paul Franklin — “Kissing Your Picture (Is So Cold)”
Jelly Roll with Lainey Wilson — “Save Me”
Carly Pearce ft. Chris Stapleton — “We Don’t Fight Anymore”
Best Country Song
Brandy Clark — “Buried”
WINNER: Chris Stapleton — “White Horse”
Morgan Wallen — “Last Night”
Tyler Childers — “In Your Love”
Zach Bryan ft. Kacey Musgraves — “I Remember Everything”
Best Country Album
Kelsea Ballerini — “Rolling Up The Welcome Mat”
Brothers Osborne — “Brothers Osborne”
Zach Bryan — “Zach Bryan”
Tyler Childers — “Rustin’ In The Rain”
WINNER: Lainey Wilson — “Bell Bottom Country”
Best Rock Album
Foo Fighters — “But Here We Are”
Greta Van Fleet — “Starcatcher”
Metallica — “72 Seasons”
WINNER: Paramore — “This Is Why”
Queens of the Stone Age — “In Times New Roman…”
Best Rap Performance
Baby Keem ft. Kendrick Lamar — “The Hillbillies”
Black Thought — “Love Letter”
Coi Leray — “Players”
Drake & 21 Savage — “Rich Flex”
WINNER: Killer Mike ft. André 3000, Future, and Eryn Allen Kane — “Scientists & Engineers”
Best Melodic Rap Performance
Burna Boy featuring 21 Savage —“Sittin’ On Top Of The World”
Doja Cat — “Attention”
Drake and 21 Savage — “Spin Bout U”
WINNER: Lil Durk featuring J. Cole — “All My Life”
SZA — “Low”
Best Rap Song
Rogét Chahayed, Amala Zandile Dlamini & Ari Starace, songwriters (Doja Cat) — “Attention”
[From Barbie The Album] — Isis Naija Gaston, Ephrem Louis Lopez Jr. & Onika Maraj, songwriters (Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice Featuring Aqua) — “Barbie World”
Mohamad Camara, Symere Woods & Javier Mercado, songwriters (Lil Uzi Vert) — “Just Wanna Rock”
Brytavious Chambers, Isaac “Zac” De Boni, Aubrey Graham, J. Gwin, Anderson Hernandez, Michael “Finatik” Mule & Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, songwriters (Drake & 21 Savage) — “Rich Flex”
WINNER: Andre Benjamin, Paul Beauregard, James Blake, Michael Render, Tim Moore & Dion Wilson, songwriters (Killer Mike Featuring André 3000, Future & Eryn Allen Kane) — “SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS”
Best Rap Album
Drake & 21 Savage — “Her Loss”
WINNER: Killer Mike — “Michael”
Metro Boomin — “Heroes & Villains”
Nas — “King’s Disease III”
Travis Scott — “Utopia”
Best R&B Performance
Chris Brown — “Summer Too Hot”
Robert Glasper featuring Sir and Alex Haley — “Back to Love”
WINNER: Coco Jones —“ICU”
Victoria Monet — “How Does It Make You Feel”
SZA — “Kill Bill”
Best Traditional R&B Performance
Babyface ft. Coco Jones — “Simple”
Kenyon Dixon — “Lucky”
Victoria Monét ft. Earth, Wind & Fire and Hazel Monét — “Hollywood”
WINNER: PJ Morton ft. Susan Carol — “Good Morning”
SZA — “Love Language”
Best R&B Song
Coco Jones — “ICU”
Halle — “Angel”
Robert Glasper ft. SiR & Alex Isley — “Back to Love”
WINNER: SZA — “Snooze”
Victoria Monét — “On My Mama”
Best R&B Album
Babyface — “Girls Night Out”
Coco Jones — “What I Didn’t Tell You (Deluxe)”
Emily King — “Special Occasion”
WINNER: Victoria Monet — “Jaguar II”
Summer Walker — “Clear 2: Soft Life EP”
Best Pop Solo Performance
Billie Eilish — “What Was I Made For?” (“Barbie”)
Doja Cat — “Paint the Town Red”
WINNER: Miley Cyrus — “Flowers”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Vampire”
Taylor Swift — “Anti-Hero”
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Labrinth Featuring Billie Eilish — “Never Felt So Alone”
Lana Del Rey Featuring Jon Batiste — “Candy Necklace”
Miley Cyrus Featuring Brandi Carlile — “Thousand Miles”
WINNER: SZA Featuring Phoebe Bridgers — “Ghost in the Machine”
Taylor Swift Featuring Ice Spice — “Karma”
Songwriter of the Year, Non-classical
Edgar Barrera
Jessie Jo Dillion
Shane McAnally
WINNER: Theron Thomas
Justin Tranter
Songwriter of the Year, Non-classical
Edgar Barrera
Jessie Jo Dillion
Shane McAnally
WINNER: Theron Thomas
Justin Tranter
Producer of the Year, non-classical
WINNER: Jack Antonoff
Dernst D’Mile Memile II
Hit boy
Metro Boomin’
Daniel Nigro
Best Pop Vocal Album
WINNER: Taylor Swift — “Midnights”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Guts”
Miley Cyrus — “Endless Summer Vacation”
Kelly Clarkson — “Chemistry”
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Ed Sheeran — “-”
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Liz Callaway — “To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim”
Rickie Lee Jones — “Pieces of Treasure”
WINNER: Laufey — “Bewitched”
Pentatonix — “Holidays Around the World”
Bruce Springsteen — “Only the Strong Survive”
Various — “Sondheim Unplugged (The NYC Sessions), Vol. 3”
Best Folk Album
Dom Flemons — “Traveling Wildfire”
The Milk Carton Kids — “I Only See The Moon”
WINNER: Joni Mitchell — “Joni Mitchell At Newport (Live)”
Nickel Creek — “Celebrants”
Old Crow Medicine Show — “Jubilee”
Paul Simon — “Seven Psalms”
Rufus Wainwright — “Folkocracy”
Best Comedy Album
Trevor Noah — “I Wish You Would”
Wanda Sykes — “I’m An Entertainer”
Chris Rock — “Selective Outrage”
Sarah Silverman — “Someone You Love”
WINNER: Dave Chappelle — “What’s In A Name?”
Best Latin Pop Album
Pablo Alboran — “La Cuarta Hoja”
Alemor — “Beautiful HUmans, Vol. 1”
Paula Areanas — “A Ciegas”
Pedro Capo — “La Neta
Maluma — “Don Juan”
WINNER: Gaby Moreno — “X Mí (Vol. 1)”
Best Latin Rock, Urban of Alternative Album
Cabra — “Martínez”
Diamante Eléctrico — “Leche de Tigre”
WINNER, TIED: Juanes — “Vida Cotidiana”
WINNER, TIED: Natalia Lafourcade — “De Todas Las Flores”
Fito Paez — “EADDA9223”
Best Rock Performance
Arctic Monkeys — “Sculptures of Anything Goes”
Black Pumas — “More Than a Love Song”
WINNER: Boygenius — “Not Strong Enough”
Foo Fighters — “Rescued”
Metallica — “Lux Æterna”
Best Metal Performance
Disturbed — “Bad Man”
Ghost — “Phantom of the Opera”
WINNER: Metallica — “72 Seasons”
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Slipknot — “Hive Mind”
Spiritbox — “Jaded”
Best Rock Song
WINNER: Boygenius — “Not Strong Enough”
Foo Fighters — “Rescued”
Olivia Rodrigo — “Ballad of a Homeschooled Girl”
Queens of the Stone Age — “Emotion Sickness”
The Rolling Stones — “Angry”
Best Alternative Music Performance
Alvvays — “Belinda Says”
Arctic Monkeys — “Body Paint”
Boygenius — “Cool About It”
Lana Del Rey — “A&W”
WINNER: Paramore — “This Is Why”
Best Alternative Music Album
Arctic Monkeys — “The Car”
WINNER: Boygenius — “The Record”
Lana Del Rey — “Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd”
Gorillaz — “Cracker Island”
PJ Harvey — “I Inside The Old Year Dying”
Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording
Meryl Streep — “Big Tree”
William Shatner — “Boldly Go: Reflections On A Life Of Awe And Wonder”
Rick Rubin — “The Creative Act: A Way Of Being”
Senator Bernie Sanders — “It’s Ok To Be Angry About Capitalism”