This year’s Best International Act and Best New International Act categories for the 2019 BET awards are stacked with some of the biggest names in African pop.
Top Nigerian acts Burna Boy, Mr Eazi have been nominated in the ‘Best International Act’ category. They’ve each had a good year with alot of music releases including new albums in 2018 titled ‘Outside’ and Mr Eazi Life Is Eazi, Vol. 2 – Lagos to London respectively. Both artists gave stellar performances at the Coachella Music Festival this year as reported by The Sauce.
They’re nominated alongside South African star rapper AKA, who won a Kids’ Choice Award earlier this year for Favorite South African Star, and the French-Malian pop singer and one of OkayAfrica‘s 100 Women Aya Nakamura. French-Cameroonian and Togolese rapper Dosseh and UK rappers Dave, and Giggs round up the heavily-stacked category.
The Best New International Act has some formidable talents as well. Fellow OkayAfrica 100 Women nominees Teni the Entertainer and popular South African rapper and poet Sho Madjozi who performed in Kenya recently are both up for the award.
British-Nigerian rapper Headie One is nominated in the same category along with budding French artists Jok’Air and Nesly. UK-based Angolan rapper Octavian closes out the category.
East African artists are conspicuously missing from the nomination list as West Africans and South Africans scoop most of the nominations. Last year, ‘If’ hitmaker Davido took home the award, and urged the audience to “come to Africa” in his acceptance speech. Other past winners include Wizkid, Black Coffee, Ice Prince, Stonebwoy and D’Banj, just to name a few.
The BET Awards will take place on June 23rd 2019 in Los Angeles, California, USA and it will be a tight race between some of the continent’s biggest stars. Which will artist do you think will take home the win?
