After months of anticipation marked by strong, competing nominations, the 68th Grammy Awards finally happened yesterday, Sunday, February 1st, 2025. And this time, the 2026 Grammys left many Nigerians more shocked than they imagined.

The award for the Best African Music Performance was presented to South African star Tyla, marking her second Grammy award since she won it in 2024.

Tyla, who was nominated in the highly acclaimed category for her smash hit “Push 2 Start,” displaced the likes of Nigerian Afrobeats stars Davido, Omah Lay, Ayra Starr, Wizkid, and Burna Boy, alongside Eddy Kenzo, to clinch the award.

One-time Grammy winner Burna Boy also lost his nomination for the Best Global Music Album for his album No Sign of Weakness to Brazilian acts Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethânia. This marks his third loss since his first and only win in 2021 for his album, Twice as Tall. This added to the sad moments for Nigerians, who were taken aback by Tyla’s second Grammy win.

The Best African Music Performance award, created in 2023, signified a new era for African music to recognize the different genres, not limited to Afrobeats and Amapiano. And has remained a highly sought-after award ever since.

Best African Music Performance' winners:#Grammys

2026: PUSH 2 START – Tyla
2025: Love Me JeJe – Tems
2024: Water – Tyla pic.twitter.com/sht3tr0BVT

— BOUNCE (@bouncenetworks) February 1, 2026

Notably, only women have been awarded in this category since the inception in 2024. Following Tyla’s win for her global hit “Water,” Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems made history in 2025 when she emerged as the second female artist and a 2x winner to bag the Best African Music Performance award for her hit song “Love Me Jeje.”

Even though yesterday’s result was a memorable night for the Grammy-winning Tyla and South Africans alike, it left many Nigerians who had earnestly waited for their favourites to win the award disappointed. Davido and Omah Lay, for instance, proved to be the most worthy contenders for the category with their smash hit “With You.” In a round of social media posts, netizens believed this was a big robbery of the country where arguably the biggest African hit song emerged.

While this loss feels familiar, such as Wizkid and Tem’s Grammy loss for their global hit “Essence” in 2022, or Burna Boy’s African Giant Grammy loss to Angeliqué Kidjo in 2020, the conversation is more nuanced than it appears.

Why Tyla Deserves the Best African Music Performance Award

Firstly, many Nigerians forget that the prestigious award is not limited to the confines of Afrobeats. While Afrobeats remains the biggest sound from Africa and has achieved global stardom, the Best African Music Performance category encompasses a range of genres that draw on African musical expressions, including Afro Pop, Afrobeats, Alte, Amapiano, Bongo Flava, Genge, High Life, Fuji, Ghanaian Drill, Afro-House, South African Hip-Hop, and Ethio Jazz.

So while the nominations comprise Afrobeats stars and have been dominated by Nigerians, the category doesn’t exist to only favour the country’s biggest sound. Hence, Ugandan star Eddy Kenzo, featuring Mehran Matin, also got nominated. Yet Tyla’s “Push 2 Start” is an Afro Pop record in its production and composition.

But is Classifying a Genre Enough to Win The Award?

While the award was created to celebrate musical excellence from across Africa, the emergence as a winner spans recordings that showcase both contemporary and traditional African music. But commercial success and cultural impact that a song has garnered within and outside the continent.

Since when “Push 2 Start” music video dropped, it has garnered 136 million views, compared to “With You”’s 54 million, even though it feels like the opposite in the real world. So does Davido and Omah Lay’s “With You” deserve the award? Yes. Does Tyla’s “Push 2 Start” also deserve it? Yes.

Still, streaming numbers are not enough to be crowned a Grammy winner. But with a song like “Push 2 Start,” Tyla has topped charts, including the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs, the Billboard Hot 100, and various global charts. And has performed the song across international festivals. These are vital touch points for the American prize award.

By comparison, both Tyla and Davido have proven to be the strongest qualifiers for the award. But since the Grammys have always represented American interests regardless of their global perception, Tyla appears to have garnered massive appeal (chart numbers, label, and affiliations) within the U.S., where most voting members are from.

Cultural Lessons for Nigerians 

While the 68th-year-old music award show will continue to celebrate African music overtime, it still represents the biggest music that moves on the wings of the diaspora.

Following Grammy’s questionable history of African music recognition, it is high time we prioritized local music awards more than ever before. The next year is not guaranteed to be in favour of Nigerian artists, but perhaps this shows how the music institution perceives African music on the global stage.

Amidst this “national loss,” we can perhaps agree that Nigerian music is still appreciated, as evidenced by the Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Afrobeat pioneer Fela Anikulapo Kuti, despite the decades-late recognition.

Fela Anikulapo Kuti is the first African musician honored with a #GRAMMYs Lifetime Achievement Award. Accepted by the Kuti family in LA. pic.twitter.com/X0hdrbFzEX

— BOUNCE (@bouncenetworks) February 1, 2026

And while the race for the next Grammys has begun, the clamour for credible local awards should be more enforced. Local awards restructured and credible to recognize contemporary Nigerian and African music. And when these awards are prioritized and become as highly acclaimed as the BETs and Grammys, we would no longer live for the global validation of our music.