You Go Girl!
Wizkid and Kah-Lo failed to win at the Grammy Awards, but Nigerians didn’t totally lose out. The duo whose nominations brought great joy and press coverage of the Nigerian music industry, but were edged out in their respective categories, as they failed to pick up any award.
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. 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.
Although these losses hurt, they weren’t exactly the only Nigerians at the Grammys that night. Another Nigerian picked up an award. She is Cynthia Erivo.
Cynthia Erivo is a singer and actress born in London to Nigerian immigrants. She won a Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album for the cast recording of the musical The Color Purple, she played the role of Celie Harris in the Menier Chocolate Factory production.
Erivo was also a performer on Grammy night, as she joined John Legend for the show’s In Memoriam segment. The pair sang a simple cover of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows,” while a montage of clips of musicians who died over the past year, like Leonard Cohen, George Michael, Prince, Phife Dawg, played in the background.
Before winning the Grammy award, Erivo had won the Tony award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the same role.
Before breaking onto the scene with her role in The Color Purple, she had appeared on various British television shows, such as Chewing Gum, and in the UK tour of Sister Act.
