Grammy Awards organizers face a wave of backlash as they describe highly acclaimed Nigerian Afrobeat sensations, Wizkid and Rema, as ‘up-and-coming artists’. The Recording Academy sparked outrage among Nigerians on Instagram when they tagged these internationally recognized musicians as emerging talents.
The controversy arose from an Instastory post that posed the question, “Who is an up-and-coming Black artist everyone should have on their radar?” To the surprise and dismay of many, the Recording Academy mentioned Wizkid and Rema in their response.
This choice of wording was met with strong criticism from Nigerians, particularly Wizkid’s loyal fanbase, who found it disrespectful given the artist’s status as one of Africa’s most accomplished musical talents.
One social media user expressed their dissatisfaction, stating, “Setting aside fandom, this is undeniably disrespectful considering Wizkid’s position as a top three afrobeats artist.”
Another user voiced their disbelief, exclaiming, “Wizkid up-and-coming? Is the Grammy organization out of their minds?”
A user named @oxfybi bluntly questioned, “Wizkid isn’t up-and-coming, what’s wrong with the Grammys?”
