The Nigerian artists both took home multiple awards for their chart-topping hits and successful collaborations.
Rema, only 22 years old, won the prestigious Artist of the Year award and also received recognition for his hit song “Woman” which won Best Afrobeat Track. Davido, a well-established artist in the industry, won the Best Collaboration award for his hit single “FEM” featuring American rapper Lil Baby.
The Trace Awards, known for celebrating African talent, brought together a diverse array of musicians and performers who showcased their talents on stage. The event was a night of celebration and recognition for Rema, Davido, and all the other talented artists in attendance. Could you please provide the text that needs to be paraphrased?
The Trace Awards is a recently established awards series founded by Trace, an international television and multimedia company. The aim of the awards is to acknowledge musicians from Africa and those who have been influenced by the African culture.
Rema was awarded the title of song of the year for his widely popular hit “Calm Down.” A new version of the song featuring Selena Gomez managed to reach the top position on the charts. Ranked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The Nigerian celebrity also emerged victoriously as the best global African artist (sharing the title with Nomcebo).
Davido was also successful in clinching two awards, specifically for best male artist and best collaboration. He received the latter recognition for his collaboration with Musa Keys from South Africa on the song “Unavailable.” Burna Boy, a Nigerian artist, was awarded the album of the year for his creation named Love Damini.
The Trace Awards showcased the talents of about 50 artists from Africa and artists influenced by the African culture, hailing from various parts of the globe. The performers included Davido, Yemi Alade, Mr Eazi, and Diamond Platnumz. In a statement, Olivier Laouchez, Trace’s chairman and co-founder, expressed his jubilation over the successful showcase of African and African-origin artists, highlighting their immense talent and innovation.
The presence of all the nominees and performers at the Trace Awards highlighted the reasons why African contemporary music has gained global recognition. Over the course of the last year, a number of additional award shows have introduced new categories to acknowledge and honor African music. Wizkid became the first recipient of the esteemed Favorite Afrobeats Artist award at the American Music Awards held in November 2022.
The first-ever recipient of the Best Afrobeats award at the MTV Video Awards in September was the song “Calm Down” by Rema & Selena Gomez. The list of candidates for the first-ever Grammy Award for excellence in African music will be disclosed on November.
The recognitions included a lifetime achievement award presented to 2Face from Nigeria, a Change Maker award given to Mr Eazi, also from Nigeria, for his charitable efforts, and the aforementioned best Global African artist award granted to Rema and Nomcebo.