The nomination list for the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards was released today, and it included a new category for Afrobeats dubbed “Best Afrobeats”. This follows the recent trend of American award shows creating new categories to celebrate African music. The American Music Awards added a “Favorite Afrobeats Artist” category in 2022, while the Grammys also announced the “Best African Music Performance” category earlier this year.
This development highlights the growing impact of Afrobeats and African music, as a whole on the global stage. The Afrobeats category is only the third new genre-specific to be added to the VMAs in this century after Latin and K-pop, which were added in 2006 and 2019 respectively.
Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” was an obvious pick for the 2023 “Best Afrobeats” award, as it is one of the biggest crossover hits in the year in review. Ayra Starr secured two nominations for “Rush” and “2 Sugar”, a collaborative effort with Wizkid. African Giant, Burna Boy gets a nod for “It’s Plenty” with Davido and Musa Keys’ summer jam, Unavailable also nominated. Cameroonian singer Libianca’s sombre hit “People”, as well as Fireboy DML and Asake’s “Bandana” were also nominated.
Elsewhere, Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” earned nominations for best collaboration and best song. The 2023 VMAs is slated for September 12, 2023.