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Grammy Awards Academy unveils 10 leading African Afrobeats artistes

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The organizers of the biggest award ceremony, Grammy Awards, “The Recording Academy”, has unveiled the top 10 African artistes making waves in the Afrobeats music genre.

In unveiling of the top artistes on Thursday, the Academy said it took into consideration the evolution and growth of Afrobeats which had continued to shake up the entertainment industry in Africa and in different parts of the world, as well as the leading musicians that had made the revolution possible.

“One country that has continued to focus on the dominance of Afrobeats is the United States of America (US),” the Academy said in a statement on its website.

“As organizers of the biggest award ceremony, the Grammy Awards, The Recording Academy has unveiled 10 artists they believe would be leading the new wave of Afrobeats as time progresses.

“These artists are the game changers and people bringing on a new style and sound to the genre of Afrobeats as a whole.

“With roots in Nigeria, the genre has exploded in popularity internationally. Billboard recently started a chart for Afrobeats singles, and The Recording Academy recently added a brand new category, Best African Music Performance, to honour the continent’s best musicians.

“The pan-African pop movement has generated lots of fresh and interesting talent in recent years. Read on for 10 Afrobeats artists who are bringing their unique voices and perspectives to the scene”, it said.

Here are the 10 artistes below:

Amaarae
Amaka
Asake
Aya Nakamura
BNXN
Fireboy DML
Mr Eazi
Lisa Yaro
Oladapo
Ruger

Culture

Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie fires shots at Davido, Wizkid, Burna Boy, Asake in new single ‘Brag’

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Ghanaian rapper, Michael Owusu Addo, popularly known as Sarkodie, has sparked a new round of storm after he fired shots at Nigerian Afrobeats singers, Davido, Wizkid, Burna Boy and Asake in his new single, “Brag.”

In the single which dropped on Friday, May 10, Sarkodie boasted about his 2016 sell-out performance at the O2 Arena, claiming he paved the way for the Nigerian acts.

The Ghanaian rapper said he laid the light for Nigerian Afrobeats top artistes and as such, they should be grateful to him and his pioneering role in projecting their careers.

The “Painkiller” hitmaker boasted about selling out the O2 in 2016, long before the Nigerian stars and created the platform they are now enjoying.

He went on to place himself in the same league as Grammy Award-winning Burna Boy and Ghanaian rapper, Black Sherif.

Sarkodie also stated that his main competitors in the music industry were American rappers Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, noting that he wasn’t on the same level as African rappers.

A line from the song goes:

“Wizkid came, I was already doing it, Davido started, I was improving it, then Odogwu came through Black Sherif & Asake.”

The release of “Brag” has however, elicited controversy and heated debates within the African music community, with fans weighing in on Sarkodie’s bold assertions and the perceived rivalry between him and the mentioned Nigerian artists.

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Culture

Kenyan officials arrest four Tiktokers for filming robbery prank video outside police station

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Kenyan Police authorities have arrested four young Tiktokers for filming a robbery prank outside a police station in the Kilifi North Sub-county.

Local media reports that the four young people who were aiming for social media fame, were arrested after filming and publishing on Tiktok a fake robbery outside the police station.

“The four young people, one of whom is 17 years old, made a video titled ‘wezi mbele ya police station’ (robbery outside a police station), and posted it on the popular video platform. However, police didn’t take it lightly,” one report wrote.

“In the video, a seemingly drunk man exits the Administration Police (AP) canteen and gets robbed by two others on a motorcycle.

“The 18-year-old cameraman was among those arrested. Police identified them through CCTV footage at the AP canteen. The youths were arrested at their homes in Kilifi, with the oldest being 27 years old,” another report said.

The Kilifi North Sub-county Police Commander, Kenneth Maina, who confirmed the incident and arrest of the suspects, said investigations are still ongoing, and the suspects will face charges, including cybercrimes.

“The viral video of a daylight robbery at the Kilifi Administration Police canteen in Kilifi was not real but a prank by a group of youths creating content for their TikTok account,” Maina said.

Maina said they were pursuing another suspect who was still at large, adding that the youths revealed they only wanted to attract followers to their TikTok account.

“There were five youths and we managed to arrest four of them and the other one we have a crucial lead that will lead us to an arrest,” the Police Commander said.

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