Nigerian music entertainers Rema and Davido were the top winners at the 2023 Trace Awards held in Kigali, Rwanda, on Saturday (October 21). The Trace Awards are a new awards franchise created by Trace, a global TV and multimedia platform. The purpose of the awards is to recognize African and Afro-influenced musicians from Africa and around the African diasporas.
Rema won two awards — song of the year for his global smash “Calm Down” and best global African artist (in a tie with Nomcebo). A remix of “Calm Down” with Selena Gomez reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Davido also won two awards — best male and best collaboration. He won the latter award for “Unavailable,” a collab with Musa Keys. Burna Boy won album of the year for Love Damini.
The Trace Awards included performances by approximately 50 Africa and Afro-inspired artists from around the world, including Davido, Yemi Alade, Mr Eazi and Diamond Platnumz.
In addition to the competitive categories listed below, awards were presented in three categories in which no nominees were announced. They were: a lifetime achievement award to 2Face, a Change Maker award to Mr Eazi (Nigeria) and the aforementioned best Global African artist award to Rema and Nomcebo.
The full list of winners at the 2023 Trace Awards include:
Album of the Year
Love Damini – Burna Boy (Nigeria)
Song of the Year
“Calm Down” – Rema (Nigeria)
Best Music Video
“Baddie” – Yemi Alade (Nigeria)
Best Male
Davido (Nigeria)
Best Female
Viviane Chidid (Senegal)
Best Collaboration
“Unavailable” – Davido (Nigeria) with Musa Keys (South Africa)
Best Newcomer
Roseline Layo (Ivory Coast)
Best Artist Africa – Francophone
Didi B (Ivory Coast)
Best Artist Africa – Lusophone
Lisandro Cuxi (Cape Verde)
Best Artist – Rwanda
Bruce Melodie (Rwanda)
Best Artist – East Africa
Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania)
Best Artist – France & Belgium
Tayc (France)
Best Artist – UK
Central Cee (UK)
Best Artist – The Caribbean
Rutshelle Guillaume (Haiti)
Best Artist – Indian Ocean
Goulam (Comoros)
Best Artist – Brazil
Ludmilla (Brazil)
Best Artist – North Africa
Dystinct (Morocco)
Source: Billboard
