Tag: African musicians in America

CKay becomes best-selling African singer in USA with ‘Love Nwantiti’

By Adegboyega Adeleye | Vanguard

Afrobeats sensational superstar, Chukwuka Ekweani popularly known as CKay, has earned another recognition in his stellar career.

The talented singer, songwriter, and producer has reportedly been named the best-selling African artiste in the United States of America (USA) after his record-breaking international hit song ‘Love Nwantiti’ earned over 1.6 million dollars in 2022 — which is the largest amount ever achieved by an African artiste.

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Algerian rapper Soolking plays Harlem’s Apollo during debut US tour

New York (AFP) – As his merengue-inflected single “Suavemente” once again topped France’s songs chart, Algerian rapper Soolking was stateside, delighting fans and wooing new followers with his blend of rap and Maghrebian folk music.

Already acclaimed in the Francophone world, the Algerian rapper Soolking this year set his sights on North America, where he played historic venues including New York’s Apollo and the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles.

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Nigerian singer, Burna Boy, thrills fans in New York

Grammy Award-winning Nigerian singer, Damini Ogulu, popularly known as Burna Boy, thrilled music lovers in New York with an electrifying performance on Thursday night at the prestigious Madison Square Garden.

The historic concert with caption ‘One Night In Space’, saw Burna Boy performing at the famous Madison Square Garden which has a seating capacity of more than 20, 000 people.

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Kay’s ‘Love Nwantiti’ Sets New Record In The U.S

By Bella Ogechukwu | naijaonpoint.com.ng

Raving Nigerian musician and sensational songwriter, Chukwuka Ekweani, popular known as CKay has attained another milestone in his musical career.

The multiple award winning singer officially joins Wizkid as the highest awarded Nigerian acts to sell over 2 million units in the United States Of America. CKay’s smash hit single, ‘Love Nwantiti’ has now sold over 2 million units in the US.

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Who is Nigerian music star Wizkid – and why is he taking over the world?

By Samson Uchenna Eze | Conversation

The global appreciation of West Africa’s Afrobeats music has grown significantly in the last decade. Afrobeats stars are touring the world, racking up record sales, winning awards and collaborating with big-name international artists. In fact, seven of the nine African artists nominated for a 2022 Grammy Award – one of the world’s most sought after music awards – are West African. Most of these make music driven by Afrobeats sounds.

Afrobeats is a broad, generic term for African contemporary popular music with rhythmic and harmonic influences of West Africa’s highlife and Afrobeat traditions and Euro-American funk and hip-hop.

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Nigerians dominate Billboard US Afrobeats Songs chart

By Gabriel Myers Hansen | Music Africa

Nigerian singer CKay is leading the Billboard US Afrobeats Songs chart, which debuted on 29 March. The chart was launched through a partnership between Afrobeats festival brand Afro Nation and music and entertainment magazine Billboard. Afro Nation was also responsible for initiating the weekly Official Afrobeats Chart on BBC Radio 1Xtra in 2020.

The Billboard US Afrobeats Songs chart, which was fuelled by the genre’s growing global demand, ranks the top 50 Afrobeats songs in the US based on official streaming data from leading audio and video music services, as well as download sales from top music retailers.

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Meet 3 top Ghanaian musicians in America | TeePhlow, Nana NYC and Ohenentow

By Promoter Koolic | Modern Ghana

Over the years we have seen a lot of great musicians from Ghana doing so well but who relocated to stay permanently in America. Some were not able to stay relevant after they moved and have dropped out of the music scene after they left Ghana for the United States, an example being ASEM.

We’ve also seen some few others who after leaving, are still doing their best and are releasing songs as if they are still here with us in Ghana.

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Somi pays homage to African icon Miriam Makeba with stage play, album

By Matthew Allen  |  The Grio

African music icon Miriam Makeba’s life was defined by duality. She was a proud South African who embraced both her heritage and Black American culture but didn’t feel completely accepted in either place. Like so many people of the diaspora, she lived between two worlds while feeling alienated from both. Known best for “The Click Song” and “Pata Pata,” the woman dubbed Mama Africa left a rich musical legacy only eclipsed by her activism against apartheid and Jim Crow. 

Like Makeba, Somi’s life follows a similar polarity. She’s the daughter of African immigrants but has called America home for most of her life.

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St. Lawrence University Announces $500,000 gift to fund the Ken Okoth Black American Music Project

By St. Lawrence University

St. Lawrence University President Kathryn A. Morris announced that an anonymous Laurentian has made a gift of $500,000 to create the Ken Okoth ’01 Black American Music Project.

The gift is made in support of the St. Lawrence University Black Laurentian Initiative to promote a greater understanding and celebration of Black Americans.

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UNK student, Victoria Nimneh connects African heritage with love of performance

By ERIKA PRITCHARD | UNK Communications

Victoria Nimneh strutted the runway like she owned it. At the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s recent Cultural Fashion Show, the daughter of African immigrants happily bounced to the music in an off-shoulder dress made of a patchwork of bold red, gold and black prints.

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Wizkid and Tems Make Obama’s 2020 Playlist

By By Linorajj |Notjustok

As an annual tradition, 44th President of the United State of America, Barrack Obama has released his playlist consisting of his favourite songs of the year and Nigerian superstars, Wizkid and Tems made it to the playlist with their latest jam, ‘Essence’ off Wizkid’s album, ‘Made in Lagos’.

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Burna Boy, Tinariwen, Michael Kiwanuka & More Nominated For 2021 Grammy Awards

The Nigerian star, Burna Boy and Tuareg band are nominated in the newly named Best Global Music Album category.

By OkayAfrica

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Afrobeats’ Global Takeover

Over the last several years, American listeners have grown more and more attuned to the sounds of West African pop music, also known as Afrobeats—whether it’s the swaggering Nigerian Afro-fusion of Burna Boy, the playfully genre-bending anthems of Ghanaian-American singer Amaarae, or the enthusiastic dabbling of stateside superstars like Drake and Diplo.

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Full list of winners at the Ghana Music Awards USA

By  MyJoyOnline   

The Ghana Music Awards USA came off on Saturday, October 10 in New Jersey. The event saw performances from Keche, Fameye, Eno Barony, Nathaniel Pryce, Stella Seal among others. The performances of some of these artists took place on a stage set in Accra while others were in New Jersey.

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Africa’s Creative Industries Are Ripe for U.S. Investment

BY AUBREY HRUBY | FOREIGN POLICY

When one of Nigeria’s biggest artists, Burna Boy, released his new album, Twice as Tall, in August, it became an instant global success. Burna Boy’s international popularity had skyrocketed the year before with the release of his fourth studio album, African Giant, which garnered the artist his first Grammy nomination and sold out arenas in Europe and North America. 

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Gospel in your disco: Why South Africa’s ‘Jerusalema’ became No. 1

Bound by the pandemic this year, people from around the world now also have something more joyful in common: a hit song and a dance with deeply South African roots.

By Ryan Lenora Brown  | Christian Science Monitor

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Diamond Platnumz Talks On Breaking Into The U.S. Market

By Christopher A. DANIEL | GRAMMY.com

When Diamond Platnumz exploded onto the African music scene in 2010 with his debut LP, Kamwambie, his sole mission was to be able to buy food for his mother. He didn’t realize that his sound and vision would go on to transform both East African popular music and the heights its regional superstar talent could reach.

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Sunny Ade | Remembering the feats of an African legend at 74

By Ghaniyah Olowoyo | Premium Times

Legendary Nigerian musician, Sunday Adegeye, popularly known as King Sunny Ade (KSA) has turned 74. With a meritorious music career that spans 53 years, his Juju music is characterised by the brilliant talking drum among other instruments, poetic lyrics and praise signs.

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King Samba | Being a gospel singer in the US is a blessing

By Segun Adebayo | The Trubune

Olurombi Babatunde Samuel, otherwise known as King Samba has taken his gospel music beyond the African shores and currently resides in the US where he’s making waves with his Afrocentric style of music. Samba, who started his music career as a drummer, discusses his musical journey from Nigeria to US.

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Felukah (فلوكا)| Egyptian rapper says “I was shocked that people were even listening to my music”

By Yasmin Reda| Cosmopolitan Middle East

Poet and rapper, Felukah (فلوكا) is an Egyptian-American upcoming rapper who, through her words and song, has reached many people’s hearts. She became a inspiration for many younger teenagers and became the rapper that many Egyptians needed.

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Kenya’s Christine Kamau to play American trumpet fest

By Lucy Ilado | Music In Africa

Trumpeter Christine Kamau will be the first East African to play the Festival of New Trumpet Music, which will be held online between 8 and 17 September. The 18th edition will “present lots of exciting new music by trumpeters from near and far. Live talks and a workshop will complement performances,” the organisers of the American festival said. 

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Sho Madjozi: South African Star Signs to Epic Records in USA

By SAPeople

Crowned “a new kind of global pop star” by The New York Times, award-winning South African rap disruptor Sho Madjozi has officially signed to Epic Records. She joins the label’s esteemed roster as the only South African act in North America.

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Burna Boy Wins Best International Act At BET Awards 2020

By Josh | Jaitrends

Nigeria’s Burna Boy was celebrated by Naomi Campbell as he won the 2020 BET awards for Best International Act for the second consecutive year, while Zimbabwe’s sha sha  won the Best New International Act award

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As Tanzania’s Diamond Platnumz gets 1 billion views, a look at Africa’s most popular YouTube Stars

Diamond Platnumz joins Africa’s biggest YouTube stars which include Senegalese-American rapper Akon, Malian-born singer Aya Nakamura, Morrocan Saad Lamjarred and Egyptian Hamo Bika. But Nigerian Trio of Davido, Burna Boy and Wizkid and catching up quickly.

By Lucy Fleming | BBC News

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Here are Africa’s richest musicians

By DAVID MAWULI | Pulse Ghana

Despite the lockdown around the world which has affected the show business in so many ways, musicians across the African continent are making good use of their creativity and racking in millions. Pulse Ghana has compiled a list of some of the wealthy musicians on the continent at the moment based on their works, endorsements, properties, achievements, investments, and fame.

This list is not ranked or in any order.

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Nigerian reggae star, Majek Fashek, dies in his sleep in New York

By Emma Kelly | METRO

Nigerian reggae star Majek Fashek has died aged 57, his manager has confirmed. The musician died in his sleep in New York after being ill for some time. His cause of death is not clear.

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Davido’s ‘Fall’ certified gold in the US and Canada

By MOTOLANI ALAKE  | Pulse Nigeria

Nigerian superstar, Davido has announced that his 2017 single, ‘Fall’ has been certified gold in the US and Canada. The connotation of that is that as of May 27 2020, ‘Fall’ has sold the equivalent of 40,000 and 800,000 copies in Canada and the US respectively.

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‘This Isn’t a Fad’: Three of Africa’s Biggest Stars on Making the Industry Come to Them

by Gail Mitchell  | Billboard Magazine

Tiwa Savage, Davido and Mr Eazi are opening doors (and labels’ checkbooks). Here’s what they’re up against.

The next musical revolution is brewing in Africa.

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Ghanaian rap star, Kwaw Kese, mulls seeking assylum In US

By Francis Addo | ModernGhana

Ghanaian rapper Kwaw Kese says he is thinking of seeking asylum in the United States of America, where he is currently stuck because of the closure of the country’s borders and airports as part of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

According to him, he has given himself up to the end of the month to concretise that decision.

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