During a recent interview on The Beat 99.9 FM in Lagos, Nigerian singer Timaya asserted that awards in Nigeria suffer from a lack of credibility.
He went on to emphasize that these local accolades are deemed to be even less trustworthy than the prestigious Grammys.
This follows Nigerian artists’ unsuccessful bids to secure any awards at the 2024 Grammys, leading to widespread criticism from Nigerians directed at the Recording Academy, alleging bias.
Timaya was questioned by the host, “What is your take on a lot of people saying the Grammy used Afrobeats and we need to come back home and grow?”
Timaya responded, “We don’t need to come back home. Even our own, which credible awards? Is it the hip-hop awards or the hip-TV awards [The Headies]? I don’t even know. They are not credible, either. They are even worse than the Grammys. If we have a homegrown award that is credible, people will gravitate towards it. But for now, whether you like it or not, Grammy is still Grammy. We don’t have to back down [because Nigerian artists lost this year]. We are going again.”
