Grammy-nominated Nigerian singers, Davido and Ayra Starr, have congratulated their South African counterpart, Tyla for winning the maiden Best African Music Performance category at the 66th Grammys.

NPG reports that Ayra Starr, Davido, Burna Boy, Asake, and Olamide missed out on the award as Tyla claimed the historic gramophone on Sunday night.

However, the duo congratulated Tyla on her victory via their respective social media handles.

“Congratulations on your win @Tyllaaaaaaa ! Big One for Africa! Keep soaring!,” Davido wrote on his X page.

On her X handle on Monday morning, Ayra Starr wrote: “Congratulations to my babessssss @Tyllaaaaaaa.”

Tyla and Ayra Starr have previously collaborated on her hit song, ‘Girl Next Door.’

Ayra Starr stated in an interview days before the award ceremony that she had already prepared her Grammy acceptance speech.

In a surprising turn of events at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards held in Los Angeles, on Sunday, Nigerian music sensations, including Davido and Burna Boy, faced a disappointing defeat as they lost in all their nominated categories.

Ayra Starr, Olamide and Asake also failed to make the list of winners.

The news sparked widespread disappointment and frustration among fans and the Nigerian music community. Social media platforms have been flooded with expressions of disappointment, as fans lament the loss of their favourite stars.

The Best African Music Performance category saw South Africa’s Tyla emerge victorious with her song ‘Water’.

Also, in the much-anticipated Best Global Music Album category, Davido and Burna Boy fell short, with Shakti’s ‘This Moment’ clinching the coveted award.

The hashtag, #GrammySnubNaija, trended on X, with fans venting their frustration over what they perceived as a missed opportunity for Nigerian music to gain international recognition.

X became a virtual town square for fans to voice their disappointment, frustration, and disbelief.

@NaijaMusicLover tweeted, “I can’t believe what I just witnessed. All our hopes dashed in one night. Davido and Burna Boy deserved better.”

X user @AfrobeatsQueen shared a meme of a shocked face, captioned, “Me watching the Grammys realising they really snubbed our Nigerian kings. #ShameOnGrammys.”

@NaijaJollofQueen wrote, “This is beyond heartbreaking. Our artistes have been making waves globally, and the Grammys failed to acknowledge their impact. Disappointed but not defeated. We’ll keep shining.”

In a thread of passionate tweets, @MusicAficionado stated, “It’s not just about winning awards. Nigerian music has influenced the world. Our artistes have elevated the game. Grammy or not, we are a force to be reckoned with. #NaijaStandUp.”

Despite the disappointment, some X users emphasised the need to focus on the bigger picture.

@AfrobeatInsider tweeted, “Let’s not forget the impact Nigerian music has made globally. Awards are just one part of the journey. Our artistes have opened doors for Afrobeats worldwide. The movement continues.”

Burna Boy received four nominations this year: Best Melodic Rap Performance (Sittin’ on Top of the World with 21 Savage); Best Global Music Performance (Alone); Best African Music Performance (City Boys) and Best Global Music Album (I Told Them).

The Nigerian music star also made history as the first Afrobeats musician to perform at the 2024 Grammys but failed to notch any award.

Also Davido, who got his first nominations for Best Global Music Album (Timeless); Best African Music Performance (“Unavailable” featuring Musa Keys), and Best Global Music Performance (Feel), failed to win any award.

Both Asake and Olamide’s Amapiano song did not also make it to the winning list after its nomination in the Best African Music Performance category.

Also, Ayra Starr’s Rush song was not able to make a winning impression despite her nomination for the inaugural Best Music Performance category.

Popular Nigerian singer Kingsley Okonkwo, aka Kcee, has revealed that he started his career as a disc jockey.

Speaking in the latest episode of the Afrobeats Podcast, the ‘Limpopo’ crooner said he and his brother and co-founder of Five Star Music, Emeka Okonkwo, aka E-Money, were disc jockeys before switching careers.

He said: “My father was a DJ, a record seller. I grew up in a home where my father sold records. So all the old-school artists, I know them [their music]. I was selling their records when I was about 5 or 6 years old.

“When I was in secondary school, I was already handling a full record store and playing at parties. I and E-Money were DJs. So, I listened to a lot of artists.”

He credited his father with shaping his music career.

Kcee said the secret to his longevity in the music industry is his “ear for a hit song.”

The Universal Music Group, home to various major international artistes, pulled its songs from TikTok on Thursday.

This comes just two days after the music group published an open letter saying that “TikTok is trying to build a music-based business without paying fair value for the music.”

Universal disclosed that as it approached the expiration of its previous contract with TikTok, dated January 31, 2024, it had discussed a contract renewal with the social media platform, which included “appropriate compensation for our artistes and songwriters, protecting human artistes from the harmful effects of AI, and ensuring online safety for TikTok’s users.”

The music group accused TikTok of offering unsatisfactory payment for music and of allowing its platform to be “flooded with A.I.-generated recordings” as well as “developing tools to enable, promote, and encourage AI music creation on the platform itself,” which would massively dilute the royalty pool for real human artistes.

However, in a statement on Tuesday, TikTok responded to Universal, also accusing the company of putting “their own greed above the interests of their artistes and songwriters,” adding that Universal had “chosen to walk away from the powerful support of a platform with well over a billion users that serves as a free promotional and discovery vehicle for their talent.”

The clash between the music group and the social media platform led to the removal of music and videos of Universal recordings from the app on Thursday, which TikTok confirmed.

Following the removal of Universal’s music, TikTok users noticed that recordings by Universal artistes were deleted from TikTok’s library, and existing videos that used music from Universal’s artistes had their audio muted entirely and were labelled “This sound isn’t available” or “Sound removed due to copyright restrictions.”

Universal songs were also unavailable for users to add to new videos.

Meanwhile, official pages of Universal artistes like Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande, whose new albums are scheduled to release next month, had their tabs on the app either entirely bare or reduced to a handful of brief snippets instead of their various tracks that are usually displayed.

As representatives of Universal and TikTok refuse to make any new statements concerning the withdrawal of music from the platform and their negotiations, the number of videos that would be affected by the change and the degree of the fallout remains unknown; however, some videos using Universal recordings appeared to be unaffected.

Nigerian actress, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, has been convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment for spraying and stepping on the new Naira notes at a social event in Lagos.

This was disclosed in a statement posted on the official X handle of the EFCC on Thursday.

According to EFCC, she was sentenced and convicted by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Thursday, February 1, 2024.

The statement partly read, “She was first arraigned on February 13, 2023, by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on two-count charges, to which she pleaded ‘not guilty.’

“She was subsequently granted bail on February 15, 2023.

“One of the court reads: ‘That you, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, on the 28th day  of January 2023, at Monarch Event Centre, Lekki, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst dancing during a social occasion tampered with the sum of N100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand  Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same in the  said occasion and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.’

” The statement however revealed that at the resumed hearing on Thursday, Omoseyin, changed her “not guilty” plea to “guilty”, in view of the overwhelming evidence against her.

Delivering judgment, Justice Aneke sentenced the defendant to six months imprisonment, effective from Thursday, with an option of N300,000 fine to be paid into the consolidated revenue account of the federation.

American rapper, Nicki Minaj has claimed that her colleague, Megan Thee Stallion attempted to “milk” her saga with Tory Lanez, saying she wanted a “Rihanna and Chris Brown”.

Tory Lanez was sentenced to ten years imprisonment following a conviction of assault with a semi-automatic firearm and two other felonies after he was dragged to court by Megan Thee Stallion for shooting her in the feet at Kylie Jenner’s house in 2020.

Speaking in a recent X space with her fans, Nicki Minaj stated that Megan Thee Stallion took legal action against Tory Lanez because she wanted “a Rihanna moment.”

Rihanna achieved more fame and commercial success after she opened up about the physical abuse she was suffering in the hands of her then boyfriend, Chris Brown.

While Chris Brown was “cancelled,” Rihanna became endeared to many music lovers because of the physical abuse on her.

Nicki Minaj claimed that Megan Thee Stallion was desperately chasing the same “moment” with her recent saga with Tory Lanez.

She said, “This is so obvious. She [Megan Thee Stallion] wanted a Rihanna moment so bad.

“But here is the thing, Rihanna is known for just being herself; you-get-what-you-see, you-see-what-you-get type of vibe.

“So, Rihanna never would milk something. You can tell she couldn’t wait to move on with her life.”

Grammy-nominated Nigerian singer, David Adeleke, aka Davido, has described the creation of the Best African Music Performance category at the Grammys as “God’s timing.”

In a recent interview with France 24, the singer was asked whether the addition of an African music category at the Grammys was timely or not, and he responded that it was “God’s timing.”

He, however, said African music and culture have always been “dominant” but just starting to get global spotlight.

The host asked, “What do you think about this new category, the Best African Music Performance that has now been added to the Grammys, late to the party or right on time?”

Davido responded, “God’s timing is the best. African music has been dominant for years. So if you’re asking me if we should have gotten recognition since, yeah, definitely. But things take time. As I said, God’s timing is the best.

“And I am really happy about this new category, not just for myself but my fellow nominees. It’s very beautiful given that people back home can make African music and win a Grammy. That’s really amazing to see. So I would say God’s timing, I wouldn’t say late.”

Nigerian singer CKay has shed more light on his collaboration saga with colleague, BNXN, fka Buju.

Speaking in a recent interview with The Beat 99.9 FM, Lagos, CKay stated that his 2023 hit song, ‘Hallelujah’ originally featured Seyi Vibez and BNXN but it was a version with Blaqbonez that was eventually released.

He explained that BNXN requested to be taken off from the song while Seyi Vibez’s management failed to clear up his verse.

The ‘Love Nwantiti’ crooner said he doesn’t know why BNXN demanded to be dropped from the song.

“One thing I can tell you is that BNXN asked to be taken off the record [‘Hallelujah’]. Why he asked to be taken off the record is a question you will have to ask him,” he said.

CKay said he doesn’t regret releasing the version with Blaqbonez, stressing that it was a hit.

Big Brother Naija reality show star, Angel Smith has stated that some women become insane after getting married.

Angel said this while reacting to the controversial discourse on X regarding married women who have an issue with friends calling their husbands by name.

A user @NanaFirdausiii wrote; “As my friend, if you call my husband by his name, I’ll first slap you and we’ll now fight and unfriend each other.”

In response, Angel said; “Some of you women get married and become insane. ‘Mrs’ now becomes your identity. What am I supposed to call a friend’s husband? Sir or uncle?

“Will take into consideration the cultural differences between the genzs and millennials, boomers because I’m not calling my friend’s husband daddy anything except as a joke.

“Why are we bothered about the irrelevant things in this country? This discourse is so silly. Even Jesus called his mother ‘woman’ in the Bible.”

Nigerian comedian, Ayo Makun, popularly known as AY, has written a petition to the police against one Agozi Samuel over his claim that he is having an affair with actor Yul Edochie’s first wife, May Edochie.

Samuel in a post on his Facebook page, had alleged that AY was having an affair with May and was planning to marry her following the dissolution of her marriage to Yul.

The comedian has now petitioned the Delta State Police Command over the allegations.

In the petition dated January 24, AY, through his lawyers, AY accused Agozi of criminal defamation and cyberstalking and requested his arrest and prosecution.

The petition party read, “The said publication alleges that our client is involved in an extramarital affair with one May Eodchie, the wife of Yul Eodchie and that our client was responsible for the marital crisis between May and her husband.”

He described the allegation as “baseless and untrue.”

He added that the allegation has affected his brand and caused a great blow to his personal life, career, integrity and reputation among friends, business associates and the general public.

AY urged the police to take immediate action in investigating and apprehending Agozi Samuel as evidence of defamation and cyberbullying has been provided.

Grammy-winning Nigerian singer-songwriter, Temilade Openiyi, popularly known as Tems, is poised to make history at the 2024 Billboard Women In Music Event.

The ‘Essence’ crooner has been named as the recipient of the Breakthrough Award Honor at this year’s Women In Music Awards, making her the first-ever Nigerian honoree.

Billboard announced the honorees for the 2024 Women In Music Awards on Wednesday.

Other recipients include Kylie Minogue (Icon Award Honoree), Ice Spice (Hitmaker Award Honoree), Victoria Monét (Rising Star Award Honoree), and Young Miko (Impact Award Honoree).

According to Billboard, presenters, performers, and additional honorees will be announced in the following weeks.

The 2024 Billboard Women In Music Event will be held at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California, on March 6, 2024.

Nigerian Singer, Simi, has said she never intended to marry a musician.

The singer stated this while narrating how she met her husband, Adekunle Gold, in an interview on the ‘Tea With Tay’ podcast.

Simi said she met Adekunle as a graphics designer and thought he was just a fan who had been waiting to connect with her on Facebook.

“I didn’t know my husband was singing when I met him because I already said I cannot marry a singer. I thought he was even a fan. He used to do this ‘King of Photoshop’ that time.

“He sent me a message on Facebook but I never saw it nor did I reply. I sensed that he would be good for me.”

Adekunle Gold got married to Simi in 2019.

Mavin Records disk jockey, Nonso Temisan Ajufo, popularly known as DJ Big N, has raised the alarm over the influx of kidnappers into Lagos State.

The music star stated that he can “categorically” confirm that kidnappers are now in the state.

He urged residents to be vigilant and protect themselves and their loved ones.

On his Instagram page on Wednesday, DJ Big N wrote, “I repeat, please be very vigilant of your surroundings. Especially while driving or walking in Lagos. I can categorically tell you that kidnappers are now in Lagos. Walk in groups.

“And make sure your car doors are pinned down. Protect yourself and your loved ones.”

Cynthia, the wife of Big Brother Naija reality show host, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, has tackled a fan who inquired about her getting a divorce from her husband.

Cynthia, on her eponymous podcast, engaged fans in a question-and-answer session dedicated to answering questions about her marriage, among others.

An inquisitive fan asked if she was considering a divorce from Ebuka.

Cynthia said: “Why will you even ask such a question? I actually want to know your reason for asking. No, I’m not getting a divorce and I will never get a divorce. That is a weird question. Are you wishing divorce on me? I reject you.

“I’m naturally not an insecure person. So his job is his job. It is just like any other job. I don’t think that his job makes me insecure.”

Ebuka got married to Cynthia in February 2016. The union is blessed with two children.

Big Brother Naija reality show star, Ike Onyema, has revealed that people who are broke will always demand 24 hours attention from their partners.

Ike made this known while sharing his thoughts on relationships with ‘broke people’.

Highlighting reasons why netizens should avoid being in a romantic relationship with such individuals, he explained that they have a sense of entitlement and constantly in need of attention.

While flaunting money on his Instagram page on Monday, Ike questioned why anyone would choose to live with a poor person.

He wrote; “Some reasons you should avoid dating broke people, starting from the fact that they aren’t supportive; they are also draining and lack gratitude irrespective of what you do for them.

“They always have a Sense of Entitlement, and expect 24 hours attention. So why settle for the broke while there are tons of smart and hardworking people out there ready to mingle?”

Nigerian street artiste Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, on Monday alleged that some individuals assaulted him.

The “Zazu” crooner posted videos on his Instagram story showing some men in a heated argument with him. One of the videos showed him with swollen eyes.

He also shared a picture of a medical report he submitted to the divisional police officer at Ajah Police Station and wrote, “Omo ologo surrendered by my enemies Na God dey cover me ZAZUU This (sic) people really do me bad but Thank God say man no be God.”

Portable complained that he was assaulted by about 30 men in his home, and when the police came, they fled the scene.

“Dem run as dem see police all of them like 30 with dada Dem beat me dem wire me,” he said.

Portable said he had crossed paths with two U.S.-based artistes who wanted to collaborate with him to boost their careers.

“Na two dem be because Dey wan feature me from America,” he said.

The 29-year-old artiste stated that the men had given his manager N2.5 million last year for the collaboration, and when they approached him this year, he informed them that his fee had increased.

The singer disclosed that he later received N1 million.

However, after travelling from Sango to Ajah in Lagos for the video shoot, he was assaulted by the men.

The “Zazu” crooner also said the men demanded a refund of the N3.5 million he had earlier received.

Big Brother Naija reality show star and actress, Josephina Otabor, simply known as Phyna, has revealed that she stopped attending church because of some of the Pope’s reforms, which didn’t sit well with her.

Speaking in the latest episode of her podcast, Spill With Phyna, the reality star explained that she was a staunch Catholic growing up but no longer goes to church due to the Pope’s reform of some Catholic doctrines.

She particularly frowned at the Pope’s recent approval for Catholic priests to “bless” same-sex marriage.

“I stopped going to Church. Initially, I was Catholic; that was my Church growing up, but things come dey go on. Pope don actually pass different kinds of things then wey no really sit right with me but this recent one of man and man fit come marry for not just any Church but Catholic Church, I just tell myself say no need,” Phyna said.