It was a night to celebrate outstanding African talents, and as anticipated, two of the continent’s top shots, Davido and Rema, were the highlights at the 2023 Trace Awards held in Kigali, Rwanda, over the weekend.
The two talents took home two awards each at the event on the night with Burna Boy and Tanzania’s Diamond Platnumz also awarded.
Davido won Best Male Artiste and Best Collaboration, while Rema took home the prize for Best Global African Artiste, with the hit composition Calm Down adjudged ‘Song of the Year.’
The Trace Awards is a new award franchise created by Trace, a global TV and multimedia platform to recognize African and Afro-influenced musicians.
Common Person composer Burna Boy won Album of the Year for Love Damini, which has songs including Last Last, Kilometre, Dirty Secrets, For My Hand, and others.
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The ceremony opened with a performance by South African singer Nomcebo, followed by fine acts from Mr Eazi and Yemi Alade alongside showings of others from the continent and the Diaspora.
Nigeria’s 2Face (2 Baba) received a lifetime achievement award, while Mr. Eazi was recognized for his philanthropic work. Davido’s viral Unavailable single, released in March 2023, together with Musa Keys from South Africa, emerged as the best collaboration on the night.
Creator of Johnny, Yemi Alade, beat competition from Wizkid, Tiwa Savage and others in the Best Music Video category for her work titled Baddie, released about 10 months ago.
The Best Female Artiste award went to Senegal’s Viviane Chidid named in the same category as Ayra Starr (Nigeria), Josey (Ivory Coast) Nadia Mukami (Kenya) Soraia Ramos (Cape Verde), and Tiwa Savage (Nigeria).
Nigeria’s Asake won Best Artiste Africa—Anglophone, while Didi B from Ivory Coast won Best Artiste (Francophone). Bruce Melodie was named Best Artiste (Rwanda). Diamond Platnumz won Best Artiste (East Africa).
The ceremony, described as a concentration of the biggest African superstars, brought together thousands of guests and performers from the continent who continue to produce global hits. It marked the 10th anniversary of Trace Media, which is dedicated to promoting Afro-centric content on its channels.