Wizkid wins second BET Award, Rayvanny takes Viewers’ Choice

It is the second time Wizkid has received the award and the first time he has won it alone. His win in 2012 was shared with Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie. At the time the award was given to two artists. Since becoming a honour bestowed on one artist, the award had eluded the ‘Ojuelegba’ singer. Last year, he lost to Black Coffee.

Prior to Wizkid’s triumph, the BET website had generated winners in a few categories. For the African category, the winner was South Africa's Nasty C, who had fans sending congratulations and screenshots of the false win to his social media pages. BET later issued a statement stating that the names thrown up by its website were incorrect and generated by a technical problem. "We deeply apologise to the artists who were impacted by this error," read a part of the statement, "and we look forward to celebrating all of this year’s incredible international nominees and winners during the BET Experience and BET AWARDS next week."

Although he left with the most prestigious award, Wizkid was not the only African act honoured at this year’s edition, which is one of the most prestigious events recognising black excellence in the popular arts in the US. Tanzanian artist Rayvanny was named the winner in the Best International Viewers' Choice category. The award was last won by Nigerian act Falz.

Rayvanny, an protégé of Diamond Platnumz, paid tribute to his colleague. “Yo guys, we did it,” he wrote on social media. “Thanks everybody who voted for me. My brother Diamond Platnumz, I know you are waiting for this. This is not mine bro, this is yours because you sacrificed yourself for me. Yo my brother. This one is for you. Thanks a lot BET Awards, this means a lot to me.“

The announcement of Wizkid as winner came a day before the main BET Awards ceremony, which took place on Sunday 25 June, and saw Beyoncé emerge as the big winner with five awards. The main ceremony saw rapper French Montana introduce Triplet Ghetto Kids, the dancing group from Uganda featured in his video for 'Unforgettable'.

Complaints of inferior treatment meted to the African nominees were absent this year, representing perhaps some progress after artists from the continent voiced dissatisfaction with their handling two years ago.

Wizkid’s win adds to his success at the Billboard Music Awards earlier this year. His next project, his first under Sony Music, an album titled Sounds from the Other Side, will be released in July. Ahead of its release, 'Naughty Ride', a single with Major Lazer from the album, was released days before his BET Awards success. Listen to it below.