P-Square, MI for BET Awards
Adekunle Ayeni
The BET Hiphop Awards have for the
first time ever, nominated Nigerian
acts in their 'International' category.
According to the list of nominees
released by the organisers on
Tuesday, homeboys, P-square and
MI, are up for the 'Best International
Act' prize, alongside other promising
acts from across the world:
Chipmunk (UK), Kojo Antwi (Ghana),
Estelle (UK), Dizzee Rascal (UK), HHP
(SA), K'Naan (Somalia), Sade (UK) and
Corinne Bailey Rae (UK).
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The development, analysts say, is in
line with BET's recent policy on the
African continent, especially Nigeria
where they're already doing a lot of
work in terms of content. Nigeria is
becoming one of the biggest
markets for global youth brands, and
the success of MTV (which came in
February 2005), appears to be giving
the green light to many others.
MTV and MOBO are the first
international awards to recognise
home-grown African talents. But,
unlike both awards which created
separate 'African' categories, the BET
is pitching African acts against their
contemporaries from Europe and the
US - a move that could work for, or
against the African acts depending
on who eventually wins what.
This year's BET, scheduled for June
27, will be hosted by Hiphop veteran,
Queen Latifah, at the Shrine
Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, some of the biggest
nominees this year include Jay Z and
Beyonce - with five and four nods
respectively. Alicia Keys is also up for
four categories,