There is perhaps no greater sign of the rise of Afrobeats (aka Afropop, aka Afrofusion) in the US than this: The upcoming 2023 NBA All-Star Game features a wealth of Nigerian stars as halftime performers. Burna Boy, Rema, and Tems have all been announced as the performers for the halftime show, along with the performers for the national anthem and a pregame show featuring none other than Post Malone.
In addition to the three huge names listed above, the NBA announced that the pregame show will be performed by Post Malone, while the US national anthem, “Star Spangled Banner,” will be performed by singer-songwriter Jewel, who was actually born in Utah, where All-Star Weekend is being held this year (she was raised in Alaska, though. It probably can’t be easy finding too many nationally famous stars from Utah). Meanwhile, the Canadian national anthem, “O Canada,” will be sung by R&B star Jully Black.
Burna Boy, Rema, and Tems have all have huge breakouts in the past year or so. While Burna gained notoriety, headlining festivals like Afropunk and the upcoming Afro Nation in Miami, Rema teamed up with American pop star Selena Gomez on a remix of his breakthrough hit “Calm Down.” Likewise, Tems had a huge year, winning a Grammy for her collaboration with Drake and Future on “Wait For U,” for which she was also the first African artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. She also penned Rihanna’s Wakanda Forever ballad “Lift Me Up” while contributing her own cover of “No Woman, No Cry.”
The 2023 NBA All-Star Game will be held on Sunday, February 19 at 7 p.m. ET on TNT.
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Burna Boy is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
