CNN
–
The stars were out at Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah — from basketball legends LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo to Nigerian musical titans Burna Boy, Tames and Rema.
The trio performed a halftime show filled with Afrobeats, a sign that the genre’s global growth continues into 2023.
Grammy winner Burna Boy was the first performer, Telling the crowd“I’m taking you on a trip to Africa without even being on a plane.”
Read more: Burna Boy has a complicated relationship with Africa
For Tems, it closes a stormy month, as he has done recently History made Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” — a song from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — became the first Nigerian artist to receive an Oscar nomination. He also Won his first Grammy February 5 for his collaboration with Drake and Future on “Wait For You.”
Meanwhile, musician, rapper and singer Rema is enjoying Chart-topping Breakthrough with his hit “Calm Down” featuring Selena Gomez.
“Nigeria is a football-dominated, soccer-dominated country,” Burna Boy Said in a video Posted Monday by the NBA All-Star Twitter account. “But at the same time, we still have some of the best basketball players here.”
“It’s a dream,” he added in another clip. “It’s amazing. I had dreams of playing in the NBA as a child, but you know, I had to perform in the NBA [All-Star game]So I guess I made it either way.
Check out the gallery at the top of the page for images from the show.
