Burna Boy, Tems, and Rema Bring Afrobeats Heat to the NBA All-Star Game

Afrobeats is continuing to take center stage. During the NBA All-Star Game halftime performance at Salt Lake City this weekend, Burna Boy, Rema and Tems brought Afrobeats electricity to the forefront. All three individually took to the stage to perform sets of some of their most celebrated singles.

Burna Boy FULL 2023 #NBAAllStar Game Halftime Performancewww.youtube.com

In true Burna fashion, the “Dangote” singer started things by saying, "I'm about to take you on a journey to Africa without even going on a plane," before embarking on his setlist. Burna performed hits like “Last Last,” “Alone” and “It’s Plenty.”

Rema, who several fans have dubbed the “Prince of Afrobeats” took over the stage next, to give a rendition of “Calm Down” and “Holiday.” Grammy Award-winning Tems closed out the segment with a soulful medley of “Free Mind,” “Crazy Tings,” “Essence,” and “Higher.”

Rema FULL 2023 #NBAAllStar Game Halftime Performancewww.youtube.com

The half-time show this year was centered around African music. Additionally, during the performances, several African NBA players like Pascal Siakam—who was born in Cameroon—and Greek-Nigerian Giannis Antetokounmpo were on the court.

A decade ago, Afrobeats was lacking platform that it now has.Over the years, artists like P-Square, 2Baba, D’banj and many others had collaborated with American artists. But Afrobeats’ international acclaim reached its peak in the age of Burna Boy, Tems, Rema and a host of others, who have taken the genre to another level.

Check out all of the performances.

Tems FULL 2023 #NBAAllStar Game Halftime Performancewww.youtube.com