Nigerian music icons have received nominations for the 2025 Grammy Awards, as announced by The Recording Academy on Friday, November 8, during a live broadcast, the likes of Divine Ikubor , popularly known as Rema, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, Ahmed Ololade, popularly known as Asake and David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido.
The nominations were revealed by an impressive lineup of presenters, including Hayley Williams, Billie Joe Armstrong, Gayle King, Kirk Franklin, Kylie Minogue, and Victoria Monet.
In the ‘Best Global Music Album’ category, Rema and Tems earned nominations—Rema for his album “HEIS” and Tems for her debut album “Born in the Wild”.
This is Rema’s first Grammy nomination, while Tems marks her eighth, competing alongside other international albums from artists such as Matt B (USA), the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (UK), Ciro Hurtado (Peru), and Antonio Rey (Spain).
Damini Ogulu , widely known as Burna Boy was the first Nigerian artist to win a Grammy in the ‘Best Global Music Album’ category for “Twice As Tall” in 2021, while Tyla seethal, South Africa’s Tyla made history in 2024, winning the ‘Best African Music Performance.’
This year, the ‘Best African Music Performance’ category showcases remarkable Nigerian talent, with nominees like Yemi Alade’s “Tomorrow,” Asake’s “MMS” with Wizkid, Chris Brown’s “Sensational” featuring Davido and Lojay, Burna Boy’s “Higher,” and Tems’ “Love Me Jeje.” Tems leads the Nigerian nominees with three nominations, including ‘Best R&B Song’ for “Burning” and ‘Best African Music Performance’ for “Love Me Jeje.”
Asake celebrates his second Grammy nod, following his 2023 nomination for “Amapiano” with Olamide, while Lojay receives his first.
Davido, who has four career Grammy nominations, was previously recognized in 2023 for his album “Timeless” and singles “Unavailable” and “Feel.”
Yemi Alade also returns for her second nomination, following her 2022 nod with Angelique Kidjo for “Dignity.”
Burna Boy marks his sixth consecutive Grammy nomination, building on his 2021 win for “Twice as Tall”.
Other Nigerian artists nominated include Jordan Adetunji for his viral track “Kelani” and Bloody Civilian, who earned her second Grammy nod for contributions to the ‘Best Reggae Album’ category with Bob Marley’s “One Love” soundtrack.
In a surprising twist, Oyinkansola Aderibigbe, popularly known as Ayra Starr, nominated last year, did not make the list this time.
Beyoncé leads the nominations overall with eleven for her genre-blending album “Cowboy Carter”, competing across categories including Record, Song, and Album of the Year, as well as in pop, rap, country, and Americana.
Other top nominees include Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, and Post Malone, each with seven nominations, while Taylor Swift, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter have six each.
Last year’s major Grammy awards went to Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” for Album of the Year, Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” for Record of the Year, Victoria Monét for Best New Artist, and Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell for Song of the Year with “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie”.
The Grammy Awards ceremony is scheduled for February 2, 2025, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and will broadcast live on CBS and stream on-demand on Paramount.
The full lists of the awards are listed below;
Record of the Year
“Now And Then” – The Beatles
“Texas Hold ’Em” – Beyoncé
“Espresso” – Sabrina Carpenter
“360” – Charli xcx
“Birds of a Feather” – Billie Eilish
“Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar
“Good Luck, Babe!” – Chappell Roan
“Fortnight” – Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone
Album Of The Year
“New Blue Sun” – André 3000
“Cowboy Carter” – Beyoncé
“Short n’ Sweet” – Sabrina Carpenter
“Brat” – Charli xcx
“Djesse Vol. 4” – Jacob Collier
“Hit Me Hard and Soft”– Billie Eilish
“Chappell Roan The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” – Chappell Roan
“The Tortured Poet’s Department” – Taylor Swift
Song Of The Year
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” – Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams
“Birds of a Feather” – Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
“Die With A Smile” – Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, James Fauntleroy, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars & Andrew Watt
“Fortnight” – Jack Antonoff, Austin Post & Taylor Swift
“Good Luck, Babe!” – Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, Daniel Nigro & Justin Tranter, songwriters (Chappell Roan)
“Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar)
“Please Please Please” – Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” – Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq
Best New Artist
Benson Boone
Sabrina Carpenter
Doechii
Khruangbin
RAYE
Chappell Roan
Shaboozey
Teddy Swims
Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical
Alissia
Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II
Ian Fitchuk
Mustard
Daniel Nigro
Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical
Jessi Alexander
Amy Allen
Edgar Barrera
Jessie Jo Dillon
RAYE
Best Pop Vocal Album
“Short n’ Sweet” – Sabrina Carpenter
“Hit Me Hard And Soft” – Billie Eilish
“eternal sunshine” – Ariana Grande
“Chappell Roan The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” – Chappell Roan
“The Tortured Poets Department” – Taylor Swift
Best African Music Performance
“Tomorrow” – Yemi Alade
“MMS” – Asake & Wizkid
“Sensational” – Chris Brown Featuring Davido & Lojay
“Higher” – Burna Boy
“Love Me JeJe” – Tems
Best Global Music Album
“Alkebulan II”— Matt B Featuring Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
“Paisajes”— Ciro Hurtado
“Heis”— Rema
“Historias De Un Flamenco”— Antonio Rey
“Born In The Wild”— Tems
Best Dance/Electronic Recording
“She’s Gone, Dance On”—Disclosure
“Loved”—Four Tet
“leavemealone”—Fred Again.. & Baby Keem
“Neverender”—Justice & Tame Impala
“Witchy”—KAYTRANADA Featuring Childish Gambino
Best Dance/Electronic Album
“Brat”—Charli xcx
“Three”—Four Tet
“Hyperdrama”—Justice
“Timeless”—KAYTRANADA
“Telos”—Zed
Best Remixed Recording
“Alter Ego”—KAYTRANADA Remix—KAYTRANADA” remixer (Doechii Featuring JT)
“A Bar Song (Tipsy) [Remix]”—David Guetta, remixer (Shaboozey & David Guetta)
“Espresso (Mark Ronson x FNZ Working Late Remix)”—FNZ & Mark Ronson, remixers (Sabrina Carpenter)
“Jah Sees Them Amapiano Remix”—Alexx Antaeus, Footsteps & MrMyish, remixers (Julian Marley & Antaeus)
“Von Dutch”— A.G. Cook, remixer (Charli xcx & A.G. Cook Featuring Addison Rae)
Best Rock Performance
“Now And Then”—The Beatles
“Beautiful People (Stay High)”—The Black Keys
“The American Dream Is Killing Me”—Green Day
“Gift Horse”—IDLES
“Dark Matter”—Pearl Jam
“Broken Man”—St. Vincent
Best Metal Performance
“Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)”—Gojira, Marina Viotti & Victor Le Masne
“Crown of Horns”—Judas Priest
“Suffocate”—Knocked Loose Featuring Poppy
“Screaming Suicide”—Metallica
“Cellar Door”—Spiritbox
Best Rock Album
“Happiness Bastards”—The Black Crowes
“Romance”— Fontaines D.C.
“Saviors”— Green Day
“TANGK”— IDLES
“Dark Matter”—Pearl Jam
“Hackney Diamonds”—The Rolling Stones
“No Name”— Jack White
Best Alternative Music Performance
“Neon Pill”—Cage The Elephant
“Song Of The Lake”— Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
“Starburster Fontaines D.C.”
“Bye Bye”—Kim Gordon 5. Flea St. Vincent
Best Alternative Music Album
“Wild God”—Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
“Charm”— Clairo
“The Collective”— Kim Gordon
“What Now”— Brittany Howard
“All Born Screaming”—St. Vincent
Best R&B Performance
“Guidance”— Jhené Aiko
“Residuals”— Chris Brown
“Here We Go (Uh Oh)”— Coco Jones
“Made For Me (Live On BET)”—Muni Long
“Saturn”— SZA
Best Traditional R&B Performance
“Wet”—Marsha Ambrosius
“Can I Have This Groove”—Kenyon Dixon
“No Lie”— Lalah Hathaway Featuring Michael McDonald
“Make Me Forget”— Muni Long
“That’s You”— Lucky Daye
Best R&B Song
“After Hours” – Diovanna Frazier, Alex Goldblatt, Kehlani Parrish, Khris Riddick-Tynes & Daniel Upchurch
“Burning” – Ronald Banful & Temilade Openiyi
“Here We Go (Uh Oh)” – Sara Diamond, Sydney Floyd, Marisela Jackson, Courtney Jones, Carl McCormick &Kelvin Wooten
“Ruined Me” – Jeff Gitelman, Priscilla Renea & Kevin Theodore
“Saturn” – Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, Solána Rowe, Jared Solomon & Scott Zhang
Best Progressive R&B Album
“So Glad to Know You” – Avery*Sunshine
“En Route” – Durand Bernarr
“Bando Stone And The New World” – Childish Gambino
“CRASH” – Kehlani
“Why Lawd?” – NxWorries (Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge)
Best R&B Album
“11:11 (Deluxe)”—Chris Brown
“Vantablack”— Lalah Hathaway
“Revenge”— Muni Long
“Algorithm”— Lucky Daye
“Coming Home”— Usher
Best Rap Performance
“Enough (Miami)” – Cardi B
“When The Sun Shines Again” – Common & Pete Rock Featuring Posdnuos
“NISSAN ALTIMA” – Doechii
“Houdini” – Eminem
“Like That” – Future, Metro Boomin, & Kendrick Lamar
“Yeah Glo!” – GloRilla
“Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar
Best Melodic Rap Performance
“Kehlani””—Jordan Adetunji Featuring Kehlani
“Spaghettii”—Beyoncé Featuring Linda Martell & Shaboozey
“We Still Don’t Trust You”— Future & Metro Boomin Featuring The Weeknd
“Big Mama”— Latto
“3:AM”— Rapsody Featuring Erykah Badu
Best Rap Song
“Asteroids”— Marlanna Evans
“Carnival”— Jordan Carter, Raul Cubina, Grant Dickinson, Samuel Lindley, Nasir Pemberton, Dimitri Roger, Ty Dolla $ign, Kanye West & Mark Carl Stolinski Williams, songwriters (¥$ (Kanye West & Ty Dolla $Ign) Featuring Rich The Kid & Playboi Carti)
“Like That”— Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Kobe “BbyKobe” Hood, Leland Wayne & Nayvadius Wilburn
Featuring Kendrick Lamar) “Not Like Us”— Kendrick Lamar
“Yeah Glo! “—Ronnie Jackson, Jaucquez Lowe, Timothy McKibbins, Kevin Andre Price, Julius Rivera III & Gloria Woods
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