Nigerian singer Tems, Ugandan duo Rulz and Zigi Nana, and South African flautist Wouter Kellerman all walked away with Grammy wins at the 2025 awards held on February 2 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Tems secured the Best African Music Performance award for her song Love Me Jeje, beating out strong competition from Burna Boy, Asake, Wizkid, Chris Brown, Davido, Lojay, and Yemi Alade. Kellerman, alongside Japanese cellist Eru Matsumoto and Indian vocalist Chandrika Tandon, won in the Best New Age category for their album Triveni. Meanwhile, Rulz and Zigi Nana earned a Grammy for their songwriting on Matt B’s Alkebulan II, which took home the Best Global Music Album award.
Tems and Kellerman are no strangers to Grammy glory.
This win makes Tems the first Nigerian artist to collect two Grammy awards, following her 2023 victory for Best Melodic Rap Performance on Future’s Wait For U. Kellerman, on the other hand, adds a third Grammy to his collection, having previously won in 2015 with Ricky Kej and again in 2023 with Zakes Bantwini and Nomcebo Zikode.
Overwhelmed with gratitude, Tems dedicated her win to her mother.
“Dear God, thank you so much for putting me on this stage and bringing me this team,” she said in her speech. “Tomorrow is my mom’s birthday. This is our first Grammys, and I want to thank you, Mom, because you’ve done so much for me and my brother. Happy birthday, Mom.”
Kellerman echoed the power of music in his acceptance speech.
“Thank you so much; this is amazing. This is testament to the fact that music has the power to unite and to heal.,” he said. “Thank you, Chandrika, thank you, Eru, and all the musicians on the album. Big thanks to Tholsi [Pillay, Kellerman’s manager], my best friend and business partner. And most importantly, to all of you music connects—I’m so grateful to share this moment with you.”
Despite her win, Tems lost out in the Best R&B Song category to SZA’s Saturn and in the Best Global Music Album category to Alkebulan II by Matt B and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Meanwhile, African nominees Angélique Kidjo, Soweto Gospel Choir, and Rocky Dawuni were also in the running for Best Global Music Performance but lost to American singer Sheila E.
Here’s a look at the Grammy categories featuring African artists:
Best Global Music Album
- Alkebulan II – Matt B & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
- Historias de un Flamenco – Antonio Rey
- Paisajes – Ciro Hurtado
- HEIS – Rema
- Born in the Wild – Tems
Best R&B Song
- ‘Saturn’ – SZA
- ‘Burning’ – Tems
- ‘Here We Go (Uh Oh)’ – Coco Jones
- ‘After Hours’ – Kehlani
- ‘Ruined Me’ – Muni Long
Best African Music Performance
- ‘Love Me JeJe’ – Tems
- ‘MMS’ – Asake & Wizkid
- ‘Higher’ – Burna Boy
- ‘Sensational’ – Chris Brown ft. Davido & Lojay
- ‘Tomorrow’ – Yemi Alade
Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album
- Wouter Kellerman, Éru Matsumoto & Chandrika Tandon – Triveni
- Ricky Kej – Break of Dawn
- Ryuichi Sakomoto – Opus
- Anoushka Shankar – Chapter II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn
- Radhika Vekaria – Warriors of Light
Best Global Music Performance
- ‘Bemba Colorá’ – Sheila E. featuring Gloria Estefan & Mimy Succar
- ‘Sunlight to My Soul’ – Angélique Kidjo & Soweto Gospel Choir
- ‘Raat Ki Rani’ – Arooj Aftab
- ‘A Rock Somewhere’ – Jacob Collier featuring Anoushka Shankar & Varijashree Venugopal
- ‘Kashira’ –Masa Takumi featuring Ron Korb, Noshir Mody & Dale Edward Chung
- ‘Rise’ – Rocky Dawuni
