February 1’s night was supposed to be Nigeria's night.

Five Nigerian artists walked into the 68th Grammy Awards with nominations. Burna Boy had two shots — Best African Music Performance and Best Global Music Album. Davido was there with Omah Lay. Ayra Starr showed up alongside Wizkid. The whole roster. And by the time the dust settled? Zero wins. Not one trophy went home to Lagos.

Tyla took Best African Music Performance for the second time running with "Push 2 Start." Burna Boy's No Sign of Weakness lost Best Global Music Album to Brazilian legends Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethânia. And just like that, the narrative shifted from celebration to interrogation.

So here's the big question: Is the Grammy measuring greatness or something else entirely?

The Numbers Don't Lie. But Do They Matter?

On paper, Tyla's win makes sense. "Push 2 Start" was genuinely massive. It cracked the Billboard Hot 100 at number 88, sat atop the U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart for 20 weeks, and clocked over 440 million Spotify streams. It charted in the U.S., UK, Brazil, and New Zealand. The song moved.

But, Davido's "With You" featuring Omah Lay also did well. It hit number one on Nigeria's TurnTable Top 100, peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard Afrobeats chart, and pulled over 100 million Spotify streams. It won Most Iconic African Song at the 2025 AMAN Awards. For a lot of people in the Afrobeats space, that was the bigger cultural moment.

So why did Tyla win? Some fans pointed straight at the label machine. Tyla is signed to Epic Records, a major Sony label, with the kind of global promotional infrastructure most Nigerian artists don't have.

Grammy voters aren't streaming randomly. They are exposed to what gets pushed and what gets the marketing budget. When it comes to international crossover, label power is everything.

Tyla 2, Nigeria 0. Is This a Pattern?

This is not a one-off. Look at the scoreboard since the Best African Music Performance category was created in 2024. Year one: Tyla won with "Water." Year two: Tems took it with "Love Me JeJe," the only Nigerian win in the category's history. Year three: Tyla again. Two out of three years, the award went to South Africa.

Tyla at the 2024 Grammy Awards – sc: Pinterest

Nigerian fans online were not shy. One post captured the sentiment: "Grammy has robbed Davido for Tyla again. That award show has officially lost its credibility in front of Nigerians." For 30BG, Davido's fanbase, this was not just about a trophy. It was about years of being overlooked.

Davido's drought specifically stings. Burna Boy has his Grammy (for Twice As Tall in 2021). Wizkid has his (via the "Essence" remix). But Davido, five nominations deep, arguably the most commercially dominant of the three in certain markets, still has not won. The "Big 3" completion race is now the most painful storyline in Afrobeats.

The Irony Nobody Saw Coming

Shaboozey, the country artist who won Best Country Duo/Group Performance for "Amen" alongside Jelly Roll, is Nigerian-American. His parents immigrated from Nigeria. In his acceptance speech, tears streaming down his face, he dedicated the win to his mother and to every child of immigrants. He spoke about sacrifice and what it means to carry your roots into a new world.

So did Nigeria win or not? A man of Nigerian descent took home a Grammy on the same night every Nigerian artist in the Afrobeats lane went home empty. It is a strange, uncomfortable irony that forces you to think about what "representing Nigeria" actually means on a global stage built by and for Western audiences.

So What Now?

The uncomfortable truth is the Grammy was never designed to be a fair arena for African music. The category was only created in 2024. The voting body, despite recent efforts to diversify, is still overwhelmingly American and Western.

The system rewards crossover appeal, radio play, and label visibility built for a music industry that historically treated everything outside the American mainstream as an afterthought.

That doesn't mean Nigerian artists should stop showing up. It means the conversation needs to shift. If the Grammy can't consistently validate what Nigeria and the diaspora already know — Afrobeats is one of the most exciting sounds on the planet — then the gold standard needs to be redefined.

Fela Kuti got hisLifetime Achievement Award this past Sunday nearly 30 years after his death, the man who invented Afrobeat was finally recognized by the Recording Academy.

That tells you everything you need to know.