Is Nigeria cursed at the Grammy awards?

This year’s Grammy awards promised something for Nigerians. Held in the distant Staples Center in Los Angeles, Carlifornia, the ceremony and all that it promised echoed from the USA down to the streets of Lagos, Port Harcourt and many more.

From Brass to Sokoto, fans held something in their hearts and hoped that things would go right. Nigeria was represented at the 59 Grammy Awards.

Unlike previous years where we have had just one artiste vying for the Best World Album, this time we skipped that category, and pushed out in two traditional ones. This year, we had our names in the bag for the Best Dance Recording, and Album of the Year.

Another reason why this felt a bit more special was because of the contestants. In previous years, we have sent legends to the show, with their names in the ring against other legends. Femi Kuti has been nominated four times, and before him, King Sunny Ade had his time at that level. Both of them failed to bring back any home.

The closest we have had to having the Grammy in this country, is to listen to pop stars Skales and 9ice make bold declarations of snatching the award and crossing the continent with it. Both of them have failed to smell their dreams. Skales is embroiled in keeping his name alive in the mid-echelons of the African music space. And 9ice has fallen off the radar in terms of music. All he has now is a big name, and old songs.

Wizkid and Kah-Lo were the new cool. They carried our flag this year and flew it high during the nominations. They both had a real shot at it.

Wizkid, the Nigerian pop star made the list for his contribution to Drake’s 2016 “Views” album which was nominated for Album Of The Year. The singer was a prominent contributor on the lead single, ‘One Dance’, where he is nominated as a guest artiste, and also as a producer. The Album of the year was won by Adele's "25."

Kah-Lo is a Nigerian musician known for the vocals on 'Rinse and Repeat' by British DJ, Riton. Her humorous yet edgy delivery gave the song a unique charm that has made it a club favourite around the country.

The song ‘Rinse and repeat’ which was released in 2016, was nominated for the Best Dance Recording of the year at the 59 Grammy Awards. She was nominated alongside Riton. She lost to Chainsmoker's 'Don't let me down' featuring Daya.

There are plenty positives to be gotten from their efforts this year, and there’s hope that what they have achieved will not be the last from the country. These stars showed the younger artistes that the new ceiling for achievement has been updated to this level. In that respect, they have won really big, for the culture.

But the fact remains that no Nigerian artiste has picked up the trophy. That has to change. That needs to change. Nigeria has always fallen short at the awards and this year proved no different.

Here’s to hoping that things turn out right next year, and we finally bring one of those shiny trophies home.