Nigerian superstars and Grammy-winning artists, Wizkid and Burna Boy have earned nominations for the upcoming 2021 BET Awards.
Both superstars got nominated in the ‘Best International Act’ category.
That notwithstanding, Aya Nakamura, Youssoupha, Diamond Platnumz, Emicida, Headie One, and the duo rappers, Yung T and Bugsey are all nominated in the category as well.
Meanwhile, Ghanaian big names in the entertainment industry were noticeably missing after BET released its nominations for the 2021 edition.
Notable names like Shatta Wale, Stonebwoy, and former winner for Best International Act for Africa Sarkodie were nowhere on the list.
Nonetheless, Burna Boy won in the last two years and Wizkid won it in 2012 when the category had two divisions for Africa and the UK. Also, in 2020, Wizkid won the BET HER Award for ‘Brown Skin Girl’.
Earlier this year, Wizkid and Burna Boy won the ‘Best Music Video’ and ‘Best Global Music Album’ categories respectively at the 2021 Grammy Awards.
Details about this year’s BET
According to reports, internationally, the show will broadcast on BET Africa at 2 am CAT and MTV Brazil at 9 pm BRT on June 27, followed by international broadcasts on MTV UK on June 28th at 9 pm BST, BET France on June 29th at 8:45 pm CEST. Also, voting will officially be opened from June 27, 2021.
That notwithstanding, Megan Thee Stallion and DaBaby earned the highest number of nominations. The chart-topping rappers each recorded seven nominations at the show airing live on June 27 from the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Megan Thee Stallion, who won three Grammys this year, is up for ‘Best female hip-hop artist’, ‘Album of the year’, and ‘Video of the year’ for ‘WAP’, her number one hit with Cardi B. The ‘Savage’ rapper is also a double nominee for both the ‘Viewer’s choice award’ and ‘Best collaboration’.
DaBaby has four songs competing for ‘Best collaboration’: ‘Rockstar’ with Roddy Ricch; ‘For the Night’ with Pop Smoke and Lil Baby; ‘Cry Baby’ with Megan Thee Stallion; and ‘What’s Poppin’ with Lil Wayne, Tory Lanez and Jack Harlow.
He’s also nominated for ‘Best male hip-hop artist’, the ‘Viewer’s choice’ award, and ‘Album of the year’.
Nevertheless, Drake and Cardi B are the second-most nominated acts, scoring five;bids each, while four nominations went to Chris Brown, Chloe x Halle, Bruno Mars, and Anderson Paak. All of these artists are nominated for ‘Video of the year’.
Live audience to participate in this year’s show
Meanwhile, this year’s show will allow;those who are vaccinated to register to be part of the live audience. The network said it is working closely with Los Angeles County to adhere to COVID-19 protocols.
While press at the awards show will be limited, BET;plans to have a red carpet ahead of the live event.
Connie Orlando, BET’s Executive Vice President of specials, music programming,;and music strategy, said in a statement: “We are back and excited to bring culture’s;biggest night safely back to Los Angeles;to celebrate this year’s incredible roster of nominees. We broke ground as one of the first official awards shows to move forward during;the global pandemic and we are ready to take our pioneer status to the next level with;the return of an audience to celebrate the best and brightest creative minds in the entertainment industry”.
Read also: VGMA set to announce nominees of the 22nd awards show.
