He saw off competition from other Afrobeats stars such as Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid, Fire Boy, Ayra Starr, and Labianca to emerge winner in the category at the award ceremony which took place on Tuesday night, September 12, in Newark, New Jersey.
Comedian Tiffany Haddish presented the award to Rema and Gomez for their massive hit “Calm Down.”
During his acceptance speech, Rema gave credit to pioneers and trailblazers like the late Fela Kuti, Don Jazzy and D’Prince (his label heads), Tuface Idibia, D’Banj, Timaya, Runtown, Wizkid, Davido, and Burna Boy for paving the way young artistes.
Rema’s win follows his historic achievement as the first African artist to reach a billion streams on Spotify with “Calm Down,” featuring Selena Gomez over the weekend.
Watch the video of the speech below:
Rema gives speech after beating Davido, Burna Boy to win ‘Best Afrobeats’ at the MTV VMA 2023
— Khris TV (@KhrisTV_) September 13, 2023
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: Watch Rema's inspiring speech at the MTV VMA 2023 after beating BurnaBoy, Davido to win 'Best Afrobeats){kind=link}