Culture

Nigerian singing sensations, Wizkid, Tems, win 2022 BET Awards

Published

2 years ago

June 27, 2022

Nigerian music stars, Ayo Balogun and Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Wizkid and Tems respectively, were the biggest African winners at the 2022 Black Entertainment Television (BET) Awards ceremony, an annual award event to celebrate black excellence in music, culture and sports, held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, in the early hours of Monday.

The talented Nigerian songstress won in the Best International Act category, beating compatriot Fireboy, Dave from the UK, Dinos from France, Fally Ipupa from Congo, Little Simz from the UK, Ludmilla from Brazil, Major League Djz from South Africa, and Tayc from France, to clinch the coveted award.

While receiving the award, Tems, an advocate of women and girls’ rights, urged women to continue on their chosen path, as hard work usually pays off in the end.

“Thank you so much for this, thank you so much. It’s an honour… I mean, this is my first award show that I’m winning something and I just want to use this as an opportunity to speak to every single young, old, whatever, every single woman watching this, every single girl watching this at home. Where I’m from, things like this don’t happen,” the elated Tems said.

Nigerian singer Tems takes home the award for Best International Act at the BET Awards 2022. #BETAwards #CulturesBiggestNight https://t.co/T8tsaQxbda

— #BETAwards (@BETAwards) June 27, 2022

Wizkid also made history at the 2022 BET Awards when his super single ‘Essence,’ featuring Tems and Justin Bieber, won the Best Collaboration award and with that win, ‘Essence’ has become the first African song to win a BET Award, also making Wizkid the first Nigerian and African to win an award outside the Best International Acts category.

‘Essence’ dusted other songs in the category like ‘Every Change I Get’ by DJ Khaled ft Lil baby and Lil Durk; ‘Family Ties’ by Baby Seem ft Kenderick Lamar; ‘Whole Lotta’ by Bia ft Nicki Minaj; ‘Way 2 Sexy’, Drake ft Future and Young Thug, and ‘Kiss me More’ by Doja Cat ft SZA, to clinch the award.

Wizkid had previously won the BET Award when he featured on Beyonce’s ‘Brown Skin Girl.”

Before the win by Tems, other Nigerian acts who have won awards in the Best International Act include 2Baba, D’banj, Ice Prince, Wizkid, Davido and Burna Boy.

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Related Topics:BET Awards Featured Tems Wizkid

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Culture

Egypt reclaims 3,400-year-old stolen statue of King Ramses II

Published

20 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Egypt has received a 3,400-year-old statue depicting the head of King Ramses II that was stolen and smuggled out of the country more than three millennia a ago, the country’s Antiquities Ministry said in a statement.

According to the Ministry, the statue was stolen from the Ramses II temple in the ancient city of Abydos in Southern Egypt more than three decades ago.

Head of Egypt’s Antiquities Repatriation Department, Shaaban Abdel Gawad, who received the artefact said though the exact date the artefact was stolen is not known, the piece is estimated to have been stolen in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

“The statue is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo but not on display. The artefact will be restored,” he said.

He stated that Egyptian authorities spotted the artefact when it was offered for sale in an exhibition in London in 2013 before it was moved to several other countries before reaching Switzerland.

“This head is part of a group of statues depicting King Ramses II seated alongside a number of Egyptian deities,” Abdel Gawad said.

King Ramses II is one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful Pharaohs. Also known as Ramses the Great, he was the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty of Egypt and ruled from 1279 to 1213 BC.

“Egypt collaborated with Swiss authorities to establish its rightful ownership and Switzerland handed over the statue to the Egyptian embassy in Bern last year, but it was only recently that Egypt brought the artefact home, he added.

Culture

Ghana mourns as top gospel music icon Koda passes away

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

The Ghanaian entertainment industry has, once again, been thrown into mourning following the death of renowned gospel musician, Kofi Owusu Dua Anto, known professionally as Koda, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 46.

According to reports, the gospel music icon and producer died from a kidney-related condition he had been suffering from for sometime.

Koda, renowned for hit songs like “Hossana”, “Nkwaa Abodo”, “Nsem Pii” and “Adooso”, was also a producer of repute who gained fame for his inspiring compositions and his captivating, soul-stirring vocals that struck a chord with audiences nationwide.

A local media reports that he worked with a lot of Gospel musicians in Ghana and Nigeria including popular Nigerian gospel singer, Nathaniel Bassey.