Nigerian singer, Divine Ikubor, popularly known as Rema, won the maiden โBest Afrobeatsโ award at this yearโs MTV Europe Music Awards.
DAILY POST recalls that the organisers introduced a new category called โBest Afrobeatsโ into the 2023 event.
The pioneer nominees were French superstar, Aya Nakamura, and Nigerian singers, Asake, Ayra Starr, Burna Boy, Davido, and Rema.
Despite the award ceremony being cancelled amid the Israel-Hamas war, the organisers still announced the winners on Sunday, November 6, 2023.
Rema was adjudged the โBest Afrobeatsโ winner, while Tanzaniaโs Diamond Platnumz won the โBest African Actโ category.
However, Rema and Selena Gomezโs โCalm Downโ lost the โBest Collaborationโ category to Jung Kook and Lattoโs โSevenโ.
Grammy-winning Nigerian singer, Burna Boy lost three awards, including โBest Afrobeatsโ, โBest African Actโ, and โBest Live Performer.โ
This came barely two weeks after he lost all seven nominations at the 2023 BET Hip-Hop Awards.
American singer, Taylor Swift led the winners chart with three awards at the 2023 MTV Europe Music Awards โ Best Video, Best Artist and Best Live.