Nigerians Wizkid and Yemi Alade are among the eight African artistes nominated in this year’s BET Awards. Wizkid is winner of the award in 2012. BET Africa, part of Viacom’s African multimedia entertainment portfolio, today announced the nominations for the 2016 BET Awards taking place at Microsoft Theater, Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, June 26.
Leading the charge for South African music are hip-hop giants AKA and Cassper Nyovest and dance/house legend Black Coffee. East African sensation Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania), Ghana’s dancehall/R&B queen Mzvee and Cote D’Ivoire’s Coupé Decalé star Serge Beynaud round out the nominees for Africa.
Drake leads the list of entertainers nominated at this year’s awards with an impressive nine nominations including Best Male Hip Hop Artist, Video of Year, and Best Collaboration for his hit ‘Where Ya At’ with fellow hip-hop artiste Future. Beyoncé and Rihanna follow with five nods each with Beyoncé scoring nominations in Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, Video of the Year, and Best Collaboration for ‘Feeling Myself’ with Nicki Minaj.
Rihanna is in the running for awards including Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, Video of the Year and Best Collaboration for Work featuring Drake. Other nominees include newcomer Bryson Tiller who is up for four awards including “Best Male R&B/Pop Artist”, while Chris Brown is also nominated in four categories including “Best Male R&B/Pop Artist” and “Video Director of the Year”. Future could also walk away with four awards, including one for “Best Male Hip Hop Artist”.
Created in 2001, the BET Awards recognises artistes, entertainers, athletes and philanthropists across 20+ categories (nominees in further categories including Best New Act: Viewer’s Choice, and Global Good to be revealed at a later date).
“Now in its sixteenth year, the BET Awards continues to honour some of today’s biggest names in music and entertainment along with legends in the industry,” said Stephen Hill, BET’s President of Programming. “The nominees this year represent an incredible array of artists and exceptional athletes who inspire their fans around the globe.”