July 17, 2026 by Samuel Oamen | Senior Reporter
Why Nigerian artistes failed to clinch BET awards – Jemiriye
The recent 2026 BET Awards were a night that carried weight for Nigerian artistes, especially when you look at the list of nominations: Tems, Wizkid, Asake, and Burna Boy were represented in those categories, a testament to the undeniable influence of our sound.
Nigerian musician and vocal powerhouse Jemiriye weighed in on what could have happened, saying that an artiste’s life goes beyond awards and recognition. She noted that it’s time for those profiting from the Afrobeats wave to give back to the culture that has given them so much.
“As an artist who understands the grind behind the music, I’ve come to realise that we need to be careful. If we tie our worth, or the validity of our creativity, to whether or not an international organisation places a plaque in our hands, we risk stifling the very soul of what we do. We cannot let the pursuit of these awards kill the spark that made the world fall in love with us in the first place.”
“The reality is that the maths simply don’t lie: 26% of Spotify’s total global streaming volume is now driven by Afrobeats. Think about that. We aren’t just guests at the table; we are essentially the ones providing the feast. When you contribute that much to the global music economy, trying to squeeze our massive, diverse, and revolutionary movement into a few small, peripheral award categories starts to feel not just inadequate—it feels disrespectful. We are way better than a side category.
”Our contribution to culture cannot be measured by a stage in Los Angeles. We created a movement that the world is currently living in, dancing to, and profiting from.
”It is time we stop waiting for external validation and start pouring that same level of investment into our own infrastructure. We have The Headies, our standard-bearer for years, but it’s time to scale. The <a href="https://absafricatv.com/the-long-road-to-a-single-east-african-currency/” title=”The Long Road to a single East African Currency”>African continent is home to some of the wealthiest people and the most profitable companies on the planet, many of whom are making billions daily off the very culture we built. Where is the investment in our own awards? Where is the support from the streaming platforms and record labels that have built their bottom lines on the backs of African talent?
”It is time for the stakeholders, the ones profiting from the Afrobeats wave, to give back to the culture that has given them so much. We don’t need to beg for a seat at their table when we have the re more prestigious stage right at home. We are not just nominees; we are the culture. And it’s time we celebrate ourselves with the magnitude that our impact truly deserves.”
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