Historians, musicologists and most people with a heartbeat are in agreement that the most mysterious and emotive of art forms, and everyday medium of celebration, music, was born in Africa.

The super-fertile continent that gave rise to humankind is also, quite naturally, the source of the magical pulse that has informed millennia of musical evolution, exploration and variety. It is high time then, and much welcomed, that America’s Grammy Awards ceremony this year debuted a new category: Best African Music Performance.

Traditionally, the awards show has had very few categories that allowed Africans to scoop awards, the main two being Best Global Music Album and Best Global Music Performance. (Over the years many Grammy categories have been merged or retitled, the aforementioned categories coming into existence in 2020 and 2022, respectively, in their current wording.)

Miriam Makeba became the first African performer to win a Grammy, for her beloved collaboration with Harry Belafonte, An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba, in the Best Folk Recording category, in 1966.

Since then, many legends of the continent have won Grammys, from Cesária Évora, Ali Farka Touré and Youssou N’Dour, to Ladysmith Black Mambazo and, more recently, Burna Boy, Black Coffee and, of course, this year Tyla for Water. The track entered the Billboard Hot 100 in America in 2023 (making her the first solo South African artist to achieve this since Hugh Masekela’s entry, Grazing in the Grass, half a century ago) and broke into Top 10s in 16 countries.

All in all, though, fewer than 20 African artists have received “the golden gramophone” since the Grammys’ inception. With Tyla’s inaugural win, all of this is going to change, and African artists are going to get their richly deserved dues for their vibrant, pioneering and multifarious musical spirit and output.

Legendary South African singer Miriam Makeba (Photo: Gallo Images / Sunday Times)

Disappointment at lack of diversity

Electric fanfare around this new category notwithstanding, there has been widespread disappointment at the ironic lack of diversity among nominees. Between the artists or groups nominated, only two countries were represented: Nigeria and South Africa. (Although born in Benin, nominee Ayra Starr lives in Nigeria and is referred to as a Nigerian singer-songwriter.) Valid though these concerns may be, they are, in the grander scheme of things, minor quibbles – these are, quite literally, early days in a historically significant and hugely promising new category at the Grammys, one that will finally showcase the astonishing musical riches of our continent.

In an interview with Grammy.com regarding the Best African Music Performance category, the Grammy Academy’s president, Harvey Mason Jr, said: “I’d love to see us be able to honour even more music from Africa and other areas of the world… We’re not just honouring music breaking in our country – we’re celebrating music from around the world.”

Davido performs at Power 105.1’s Powerhouse 2019 concert at the Prudential Center on 26 October 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo: Steven Ferdman / Getty Images)

Burna Boy performs in the halftime show during the 72nd NBA All-Star game at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 19 February 2023. (Photo: EPA-EFE / George Frey)

The inaugural nominees were all young, up-and-coming or freshly established hard hitters. Consummately representing the latter, Nigerian superstar Burna Boy has four Grammy nominations and a win to his name. He is also the first African artist to have headlined a UK stadium show – a sell-out concert in which about 60,000 people sang along to his lyrics.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Grammy Awards: Africa finally has its own category – but at what cost?

Hugely popular and versatile South African amapiano producer Musa Keys was nominated in collaboration with three-time nominee Davido, whose most recent album, Timeless, has been gaining mega traction in global charts. Keys and Davido’s nominated track, Unavailable, also made it onto a list of Barack Obama’s favourite music from 2023. Another team, Asake and Olamide, were nominated for the infectious song Amapiano.

Trailblazing singer-songwriter Ayra Starr, who has been making waves since the release of her full-length debut 19 & Dangerous (2021), was nominated for her song Rush.

And then, of course, the current darling of South Africa, Jozi-born Tyla, was not only nominated for, but won the inaugural Best African Music Performance award for her aforementioned track Water.

Already excited at merely being nominated, she gushed onstage: “If you don’t know me, my name is Tyla. I’m from South Africa and last year God decided to change my whole life, so thank you so much to God. Thank you to my team, my family; I know my mother’s crying in here somewhere. Thank you to the Recording Academy for this category. It’s so important and I know I’m forgetting some things, but I won a Grammy! Thank you, thank you.” DM

Mick Raubenheimer is a freelance arts writer.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R29.