‘It is a dream’: Burna Boy, Afrobeats stars take middle stage on the NBA All-Star sport | CNN
CNN
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The celebs have been out at Sunday’s NBA All-Star sport in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah – from basketball legends LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, to Nigerian musical titans Burna Boy, Tems, and Rema.
The trio carried out an Afrobeats-packed halftime present, an indication that the style’s international rise is continuous into 2023.
Grammy-winning Burna Boy was first to carry out, telling the crowd, “I’m about to take you on a journey by way of Africa with out even happening a airplane.”
Learn extra: Burna Boy has a sophisticated relationship with Africa
For Tems, it caps off a whirlwind month, as she lately made historical past by being the primary Nigerian artist to get an Oscar nomination, for her work on Rihanna’s “Elevate Me Up” – a tune from “Black Panther: Wakanda Eternally.” She additionally gained her first Grammy on February 5 for her collaboration with Drake and Future on “Wait For U.”
In the meantime, musician, rapper, and singer Rema is having fun with chart-topping success together with his hit “Calm Down,” that includes Selena Gomez.
“Nigeria is a football-dominated, soccer-dominated nation,” Burna Boy said in a video posted on Monday by the NBA All-Star Twitter account. “However on the identical time, we nonetheless have a number of the greatest basketball gamers from right here.”
“It is a dream,” he added in one other clip. “That is superb. I had desires of taking part in within the NBA as a child, however you recognize, I received to carry out on the NBA [All-Star game], so I suppose I made it both method.”
Look by way of the gallery on the prime of the web page for pictures from the performances.
