Burna Boy gets all the support after Grammy nod: 'Africa is behind you'
Nigerian rapper Burna Boy had the last laugh on Wednesday when he earned a Grammy nomination hours after being dropped by the Africans Unite concert organisers, and the shows cancelled.
The On the Low hitmaker has been nominated for his African Giant album in the Best World Music Album category.
The Grammy nomination is for albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental world music recordings.
Taking to social media, Burna Boy said he was grateful for the nod.
“Special [shoutout] to everyone on the album, from the producers to co-producers to featured artists to engineers.
“I appreciate all your input to making the album. We should all be very proud,” he said.
African Giant is Grammy Nominated!
— Burna Boy (@burnaboy) November 20, 2019
Its been a crazy day so Grateful
Special S/o to everyone on the album from the producers to co producers to featured Artists to Engineers.
I appreciate all your input to making the album. We should all be very proud#grammys #GRAMMYNoms pic.twitter.com/b0XGlOUbok
For weeks on end, Burna Boy has been the talk of the town on social media, after many made a collective call to have him dropped from the Africans Unite line-up.
Burna Boy's inclusion was widely criticised after he took to social media in September to urge foreigners living in SA to defend and protect themselves against xenophobic attacks.
In a now-deleted tweet, he also told rapper AKA to beef up his security, before giving him the middle finger.
He promised to never set foot in SA again until the government “wakes the f*ck up and really performs a miracle”.
In a media statement on Wednesday, organisers of the event said that after extensive engagement with Burna Boy’s management team, they had decided to withdraw the Nigerian artist from the concert and cancel its shows.
They said the decision to cancel the shows came after alleged warnings of a shutdown from a group of artists and event organisers under the umbrella of Tshwane Entertainment Collective.
“The decision to cancel the Africans Unite Concert comes after the call from the Tshwane Entertainment Collective to boycott the Africans Unite concert in Tshwane.
“With the increasing threats of violence from other unfortunate segments of the public and without any government intervention, Phambili Media and Play Network Africa were prompted to take the threats and warnings seriously, as the safety of all artists and attendees could not be guaranteed.
“We then decided to cancel the concert. The safety of all attendees, artists and crew comes first.”
Reactions:
On social media, fans of Burna Boy celebrated with the artist over the nod.
Here is a snapshot of the reactions.
The Lord surely does have a sense of humour, Burna just got nominated for a Grammy.
— Sizwe Dhlomo (@SizweDhlomo) November 20, 2019
Congrats to Burna Boy and Trevor Noah on thier Grammy nominations. #AfricansGaints.
— R.M Phoolo (@casspernyovest) November 20, 2019
Whichever other Nigerian has been nominated for the #GRAMMYs before now, whichever other Nigerian could also have been nominated for it today, TODAY is @burnaboy’s day. No need to compare him with anybody. Not TODAY, if ever. Let the young man enjoy his nomination in peace abeg.
— Dr. Joe Abah (@DrJoeAbah) November 20, 2019
Our African Giant has been nominated for a GRAMMY!!!!!! Congratulations to @burnaboy, his Mom and the entire team. AMAZING, and well deserved. Anything is possible with a little bit of faith and a lot of hard work. So so sooo happy for him.
— Banky Wellington (@BankyW) November 20, 2019
🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/yPdSpY7or7
Congrats @burnaboy this truly for Africa. Wow!!!
— Stream/Download #TheEigthElement (@trigmaticrocks) November 21, 2019
If “basheshe bahleka” was a person!
— #FreeKanyaCekeshe (@NalediChirwa) November 20, 2019
Congratulations to the African Giant, @burnaboy
It is truly sad that sometimes we have to wait for the West to affirm our own giants before we SEE them. Soldier on! Africa is behind you ❤️ pic.twitter.com/hPouj49pke
Burna boy keeps breaking boundaries, this is such an exciting one.
— Toke Makinwa (@tokstarr) November 20, 2019
Yesss o! You are nothing without your fans . I appreciate every single one of you ... Grammy Nominated #Grammy https://t.co/AhDe9dEC3n
— Burna Boy (@burnaboy) November 20, 2019