Popular Nigerian music act, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, professionally known with his stage name, Wizkid, made history on the early hours of Saturday, February 22, 2020, after emerging as the first Nigerian to win a prize at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Awards. Wizkid’s collaboration with global music act, Beyonce, her daughter, Blue Ivy, and Saint Jhn, in her 2019 Album (Lion King: The Gift Album), which saw them produce a hit soundtrack titled “Brown skin girl,’’ put the Nigerian on the list of winners for the 51st edition of the NAACP awards, held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California on Saturday.
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Grammy-award winning singer, Beyonce, alongside the Nigerian hip-pop star clinched the prize for the outstanding duo, group of collaboration at the 2020 edition of the Image Awards. Brown skin girl made the headlines in 2019 after the multi-award-winning Nigerian music star alongside few other African artists were featured by the American music queen for her album which was released alongside the Lion King movie. Wizkid who on Thursday, February 20, 2020, announced to the public that he has completed work on his soon-to-be-released album titled “Made In Lagos,” has continued to thrill fans in Nigeria and around the globe with his rhythms and Starboy hits.
First presented on August 13, 1967, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony meant to recognize and honour outstanding performances in film, television, music, and literature. Just like other notable global awards like the Grammys and Oscars, the Image Awards comprised of over 40 categories are voted by NAACP organization members. Clinching the award on Saturday does not only make Wizkid the first Nigerian to have won the award, it equally puts Nigeria on the list of countries in the world that have produced artists who clinched an NAACP prize.
Sent to Top 40/Rhythmic radio on July 23, 2019, as the second single from the soundtrack, Brown Skin Girl was ranked by the Billboard magazine as the 68th best song of the year 2019, noting that the song ‘’bolsters Beyoncé’s crusade for cultural pride and female empowerment”. In Sub-saharan Africa, the song was the most streamed female song of 2019 on Apple Music.
Upon its release in 2019, the hashtag #BrownSkinGirlChallenge trended on the internet especially on all social media platforms as people around the world did short videos with the song playing on the background while they showed off their skin. Comprised of ‘’spare, syncopated African rhythms,’’ Brown Skin Girl’s lyrics largely focused on the issue of colourism faced by mostly women that are dark in complexion. With lines like,
Brown skin girl
ya skin just like pearls
Your back against the world
The hit track clearly appeals to the mind of the dark-skinned woman. Little wonder the Billboard magazine described its lyrics as ‘’compelling,’’ while noting how the song made shout-outs to pioneering brown skin girls such as superstar model, Naomi Campbell, global music act, Kelly Rowland, and Hollywood star Lupita Nyong’o.
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Aside from bagging an award at NAACP, it will be recalled that Brown Skin Girl won the Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award at the 2019 Soul Train Music Awards where it equally got a nomination for the Best Collaborations.
Sources
Pulseng.com
Novice2star.com
Informationng.com
Featured Image Source: The Guardian Nigeria
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