The winners of the third annual Apple Music Awards were presented today, celebrating the best artists of 2021 and their impact on global culture.
Ayo Balogun, better known as Wizkid, is the winner of the African Artist of the Year at the 2021 Apple Music Awards. Apple Music announced the news on its website on Tuesday.
The Apple Music Awards recognise musical achievement in five different categories: Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. The process of selecting the winners reflects the editorial opinions of both Apple Music and the world of What Customers Listen To Most Often.
In October 2020, he released the critically acclaimed and commercially successful album ‘Made in Lagos‘, which included his hit Track ‘Essence‘, which has been played 125 million times on Apple Music. Shazams has surpassed 2.8 million times,” Apple said in a statement on its website.
“Last year, he was the most viewed African artist on Apple Music on the African continent and entered the daily top 100 in 60 countries/regions. In addition, he has added more monthly tracks on Apple Music. Outside of Africa, the area has grown by 250%.”
On receiving the award, Wizkid said, “Thank you Apple Music for winning this award. It’s a blessing to be able to do what I have done, and I’m proud to represent Africa.”
Other regional winners of the Artist of the Year include Aya Nakamura (France), RIN (Germany), Official Hige Dandism (Japan), Scriptonite (Russia) and The Weeknd won the Global Artist of the Year Award.
