Mzansi hip-hop superstar K.O (real name Ntokozo Mdluli) has earned a spot in the highly contested BET International Act 2023 alongside Aya Nakamura (France), Ayra Starr (Nigeria), Burna Boy (Nigeria), Central Cee (UK), Ella Mai (UK), L7nnon (Brazil), Stormzy (UK), Tiakola (France) and Uncle Waffles (Swaziland).
Culture’s Biggest Night will on Sunday, June 25 celebrate 50 years of hiphop throughout the live telecast on BET (DStv 129).
BET Awards 2023 nominations were selected by the BET Voting Academy, comprised of an esteemed group of entertainment professionals and influencers in music, media, digital marketing, sports journalism, public relations, and creative arts.”
Commenting on his nomination via his Instagram post, K.O was elated and had this to say:
“Grateful 🙏🏽 … PS: No voting option, slide me your prayers and blessings I guess. uMfoka Mdluli uyazibongela.”
Highlighting Black excellence across music, television, film and sports, the BET Awards 2023 will be held in Los Angeles on Sunday, June 25 and will air live in South Africa on DStv Channel 129 at 2am, with a repeat at 6pm.
Meanwhile, American rap superstar Drake swept the nominations for the awards, scoring a total of seven nods. The ‘Honestly, Nevermind‘ multi-Grammy winning artist is up for major prizes including album of the year for his 21 Savage collaboration album ‘Her Loss‘, best male hip-hop artist, best male R&B/Pop artist, best group with 21 Savage and the viewer’s choice award for ‘Jimmy Cooks‘ with 21 Savage.
Rap singer GloRilla, who followed suit with six nominations is vying for big honors including best female hip-hop artist, best new artist, album of the year for ‘Anyways, Life’s Great…’ and video of the year for ‘Tomorrow 2’ with Cardi B.
Hiphop stars 21 Savage and Lizzo come next with the third-highest number of nominations with five nominations each, followed by Beyoncé, SZA, Ice Spice, Chris Brown, Burna Boy with four nominations.
Running neck to neck with three nominations each is Cardi B, Coco Jones, FLO, Future, Jack Harlow, Kendrick Lamar, Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin, and Tems.
African music royalty Tems has garnered three nominations, including a nod for the Best Female R&B/Pop Artist category, shared nominations alongside Future and Drake for their collaboration ‘Wait for You‘, which is up for Best Collaboration and Viewer’s Choice awards.
Film-wise, ‘Nope‘, ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘, ‘Creed 3‘, ‘Emancipation‘, ‘The Woman King‘, ‘Till‘, and ‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody‘ all earned some well-deserved recognition.
A full list of 2023 nominees is available on bet.com.
, Uncle Waffles (Swaziland), Ayra Starr &, Burna Boy (Nigeria) and more.){kind=link}