As the 66th Annual Grammy Awards is fast approaching, the music community across the globe has come together to celebrate the biggest night in music.
For the first time ever, African music has be recognised at a more prominent level at the Grammy Awards with over 8 Nigerian acts being nominated for some of the biggest trophies of the night.
Davido, who has been nominated for 3 categories at this year’s Grammy Awards, was at the Hollywood Paladium in Los Angeles on Friday, headlining the UnitedMasters “Celebration of Independence” Grammy Weekend Concert. Also headlining this event was top South African DJ, Uncle Waffles & Dominican rapper and songwriter, Tokischa.
UnitedMasters, a leading software and services platform promoting independent artists all over the world, held the second edition of their Grammy Weekend Concert celebrating the growing power of independent music acts in the global music scene. When the 2024 Grammy Awards nominations were announced, over half the nominees for this year edition were independent acts. This trend clearly points some heavy indicators on what the music industry will look like in the future.
Last year’s showcase of UnitedMasters’ Grammy Weekend Concert featured Brent Faiyaz, Russ and Tobe Nwigwe. It drew some 2,500 fans, including Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Nas, DJ Khaled, Wiz Khalifa, Future, Daniel Kaluuya, Damson Idris, Gayle King, Jermaine Dupri, Grandmaster Flash and more.
This year’s showcase had an even bigger audience with superstars & celebrities like Chris Brown, Nas, Will.I.Am, NLE Choppa, King Combs, Sarz, Darey Art Alade, Rapsody and more in attendance. The audience was wowed by the global appeal of the headlining acts who are all independents. Davido surely gave the crowd a night to remember as he showed them why he should be going home with one of the Grammy plaques on Monday night.
Uncle Waffles gave the crowd a real party as she dropped some of the hottest Amapaino hits of all time in her DJ set. It was definitely a sight to behold, seeing the Amapiano Princess performing live on stage. And Tokischa brought pure energy to the show with her powerful & engaging rap lyrics.
Steve Stoute, founder and CEO of UnitedMasters, also took the opportunity to say a few words about the organisations tireless work of empowering independent acts. He was also overjoyed to express how much more power independent artists across the world have in their hands, with UnitedMasters; brand collaborations, marketing exposure and access to resources are at the fingertip of emerging independent acts.
In December, UnitedMasters opened their platform to independent artists in Nigeria with their Live From Lagos Naija Launch Party. This one of a kind event was headlined by Tobe Nwigwe & Sarz with a host of other prominent artist taking the stage. Independent artists in Nigeria have since been able to register on the UnitedMasters platform at a special discount rate.
About UnitedMasters
UnitedMasters is the leading software and services platform for independent artists. Through our unique mix of premium music distribution services, innovative technology, and first-of-its-kind artist marketing solutions, UnitedMasters acts as the operating system that enables artists to own their futures. We fuel the careers of artists like Tobe Nwigwe, Brent Faiyaz and Liana Banks—and unlike traditional record labels, UnitedMasters artists retain full ownership of their careers and the master recording rights to their music. We connect the 1.9M+ independent artists on our platform with global brands like ESPN, Diageo and Pepsi. These connections are powered by our world-class creative talent to propel the commercial success of artists and brands in today's world.
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