Accra, Nov. 7, 2025 — Ghana has missed out on the Best African Music Performance nominations for the 2026 Grammy Awards, as the Recording Academy unveiled this year’s shortlist without any Ghanaian acts.
The five nominees named in the category are:
Ayra Starr & Wizkid – “Gimme Dat” • Burna Boy – “Love” • Davido feat. Omah Lay – “With You” • Eddy Kenzo & Mehran Matin – “Hope & Love” • Tyla – “PUSH 2 START”
The nominations were announced today ahead of the ceremony slated for February 1, 2026, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The broader nominees list—led by Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny and Sabrina Carpenter—was confirmed by multiple outlets following the Recording Academy’s reveal.
This continues a trend since the category’s debut in 2024, when Tyla won the inaugural award for “Water,” and again in 2025 when Tems took the honor with “Love Me JeJe”—both years also passed without a Ghanaian nominee.
Ghanaian entries had been under consideration during the submissions phase, but none progressed to the final ballot. Industry chatter in the lead-up highlighted various hopefuls, yet the final shortlist reflects continued dominance by Nigerian, South African and East African talents this year.
For context, the 2026 eligibility window covered releases from Aug. 31, 2024 to Aug. 30, 2025, meaning Ghanaian artists who released after that window will look to the next awards cycle.
As conversations spark at home about strategy and visibility, stakeholders point to consistent release planning, cross-border collaborations, robust U.S. promo cycles, and metadata/academy outreach as critical levers to convert consideration into nominations—especially in an increasingly competitive pan-African field.
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