Ferdinand Ekechukwu
Nigerian superstars Tems, Burna Boy and Rema delivered first-of-its-kind Afrobeats-themed performances at the National Basketball Association (NBA) halftime show held at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, last Sunday night. The catchy tunes of the three A-list artistes had most of the NBA All-Stars held back from the locker room at halftime and stay courtside to watch and record the artistes’ live performances.
The incredible lineup of the trio proves that they were not just internationally acclaimed stars but ones with huge and loyal fan base in the United States and beyond. It marked the first time any Nigerian artiste would perform at the NBA halftime Show. Grammy-winning Burna Boy was first to perform, telling the crowd, “I’m about to take you on a journey through Africa without even going on a plane.” Performing his hits “It’s Plenty”, “Alone” and “Last Last.”
Rema came in next to deliver “Calm Down” and “Holiday.” To close the session, Tems danced her way through a medley of her hits “Crazy Tings,” “Free Mind” “Essence” and “Higher.”
Last summer, Burna Boy blessed fans with his sixth studio album, Love, Damini, which featured appearances from J Balvin, J Hus, Khalid, Popcaan, Kehlani, Blxst, Ed Sheeran, Victony and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
The 19-track album peaked at No. 14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard World Albums chart.
“Nigeria is a football-dominated, soccer-dominated country,” Burna Boy said in a video posted on Monday by the NBA All-Star Twitter account. “But at the same time, we still have some of the best basketball players from here.” “This is a dream,” he added in another clip. “This is amazing. I had dreams of playing in the NBA as a kid, but you know, I got to perform at the NBA [All-Star game], so I guess I made it either way.”
For Tems, it caps off a whirlwind month, as she recently made history by being the first Nigerian artist to record an Oscar nomination this year, for her work on Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” – a soundtrack from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” The 27-year-old singer also won her first Grammy on February 5, 2023, in the Best Melodic Rap Performance for her collaboration with Drake and Future on “Wait For U.” However, not a few of the comments following her NBA All-Star performance favoured her. Partly due to the choice of songs.
Meanwhile, Rema is enjoying chart-topping success with the remix of his hit song “Calm Down,” featuring Selena Gomez. The song reached No. 1 on both the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart. It also peaked at No. 3 on the Global 200 chart. The 22-year-old recently released his new singles “Holiday” and “Reason You.” Alongside the Nigerian stars, American rapper, singer and songwriter, Post Malone performed his songs “Wow” and “Rockstar” before tipoff at the game.
He even surprised the crowd and brought out 21 Savage, who is featured on “Rockstar.” Performances during the halftime show over the past 71 years have consisted of the best musical superstars or creative troupes on the world stage, making it one of the biggest music shows during a sports game after the Superbowl Halftime show.
