How Africa News
On Sunday, Samara Joy was named Best New Artist at the 2023 Grammy Awards, defeating fellow nominees Anitta, Omar Apollo, Domi and JD Beck, Latto, Mneskin, Muni Long, Tobe Nwigwe, Molly Tuttle, and Wet Leg.
“I’ve been watching y’all on TV for so long,” said the “Linger Awhile” singer as she began her acceptance speech.
“Thank you so much for this honor, thank you to everyone who has listened to me or supported me. All of you are so inspiring to me and so to be here, because of who I am, because of who you are… to be here just being who I was born to be, by being myself, I’m so thankful,” she continued.
The Bronx, New York, native took her younger brother as her date, also giving him a shout-out during her speech.
Joy, 23, rose to prominence as a jazz vocalist in college before going viral on TikTok with over 1.5 million views in 2020. She received critical acclaim for her sophomore album Linger Awhile, which was released in 2022.
Joy discussed the best new artist nomination in a recent Forbes interview. “It’s definitely a surreal feeling, and I’m definitely honored to be the ambassador chosen right now to represent the music that I adore,” she told the outlet. “The diversity in the best new artist genre this year demonstrates that when more artists participate in the voting process and everything like that, that’s what you get. You get the variety that the world actually represents.”
