Tems, Wizkid, Asake and Damson Idris all earned nominations at Sunday’s ceremony, but for the first time in two years, no African artist or actor won at BET’s biggest night.
Quick facts
- The 2026 BET Awards aired Sunday, June 28, from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, hosted by Druski (Wikipedia, 2026; BET.com, 2026).
- Tems performed “What You Need” and held three nominations: Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, BET Her, and Viewers’ Choice (Rolling Stone, 2026; Premium Times, 2026).
- Wizkid and Asake were nominated for Best Group, a category won by Clipse (Rolling Stone, 2026).
- British-Nigerian actor Damson Idris was nominated for Best Actor, losing to Michael B. Jordan (Rolling Stone, 2026).
- No African artist or actor won an award at this year’s ceremony, according to Premium Times Nigeria, a shift from 2025 when Ayra Starr won Best International Act (Premium Times, 2026).
The 2026 BET Awards returned Sunday night to the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, and African artists showed up across the nominations list in numbers that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. Tems carried three nominations into the night. Wizkid and Asake were up for Best Group. British-Nigerian actor Damson Idris competed for Best Actor. By the time the ceremony ended, none of them had won, according to a count published by Nigerian outlet Premium Times (Premium Times, 2026).
For a DMV audience that has watched African artists headline this summer’s World Cup festivities, the result lands as a more complicated story than a simple celebration. The visibility was real. The trophies were not.
A night of nominations without wins for African artists
Tems performed “What You Need” in a white gown, backed by a full band and six backup singers, in what Billboard’s performance ranking called one of the night’s standout sets, noting she “didn’t need any theatrics to win viewers over” (Billboard, 2026). She lost Best Female R&B/Pop Artist to Kehlani, lost BET Her to Doechii featuring SZA, and lost the Viewers’ Choice Award for her Dave collaboration “Raindance” to Mariah the Scientist’s “Burning Blue” (Rolling Stone, 2026).
Wizkid and Asake’s Best Group nomination put them alongside acts like De La Soul and Nas and DJ Premier, but Clipse took the category as part of a three-win night that also included Album of the Year for “Let God Sort ‘Em Out” (Rolling Stone, 2026). Damson Idris, nominated for his role in “Sinners,” lost Best Actor to Michael B. Jordan, who picked up his fourth career win in that category (Rolling Stone, 2026; Premium Times, 2026).
A reversal from last year
Premium Times noted that the result marks a change from 2025, when Ayra Starr won Best International Act, the only Nigerian artist to take home a trophy that year (Premium Times, 2026). This year’s nominees list was deeper, but the outcome was a clean sweep for American winners, with Teyana Taylor and Clipse leading the night at three wins apiece, and Kendrick Lamar extending his own BET record to nine wins for Best Male Hip Hop Artist (Billboard, 2026).
Why visibility without victory still matters
It would be easy to read a winless night as a setback, but the more accurate read is that African artists are now competing in the main categories rather than being confined to a single international act award. Tems’ three nominations and a featured live performance slot, paired with Wizkid and Asake’s Best Group nod, reflect a level of presence at “Culture’s Biggest Night” that did not exist when Afrobeats first broke into the American mainstream.
That presence tracks with what AfroDMV has already covered locally, including the rising profile of African artists building audiences across the DMV and the energy around World Cup watch parties drawing the region’s African diaspora this summer. Burna Boy’s high-profile role at the World Cup’s opening ceremony earlier this month is part of the same pattern: African artists are increasingly booked as headline talent, even when awards bodies have not caught up.
Whether that translates into wins next year may depend less on visibility, which is no longer in question, and more on how BET’s voting members weigh global audiences against domestic chart performance.
FAQ
Did any African artist win at the 2026 BET Awards?
No. Tems, Wizkid, Asake, and Damson Idris were all nominated but did not win, according to Premium Times Nigeria’s count of the full results (Premium Times, 2026).
What song did Tems perform?
She performed “What You Need,” backed by a full band and six backup singers (Vibe, 2026; BET.com, 2026).
Who won Best Group over Wizkid and Asake?
Clipse won Best Group, one of three wins for the duo that night (Rolling Stone, 2026).
Full list of 2026 BET Awards winners and nominees
Winners in bold. Compiled from Rolling Stone and Billboard’s official results coverage (Rolling Stone, 2026; Billboard, 2026).
Album of the Year: Clipse, “Let God Sort ‘Em Out”
Best Group: Clipse; also nominated: 41, De La Soul, FLO, French Montana & Max B, Metro Boomin & DJ Spinz, Nas & DJ Premier, Terrace Martin & Kenyon Dixon, Wizkid & Asake
Best Collaboration: “Chains & Whips,” Clipse & Kendrick Lamar; also nominated: “Errtime Remix,” Cardi B featuring Jeezy and Latto
Best Male Hip Hop Artist: Kendrick Lamar (ninth career win in the category)
Best Female Hip Hop Artist: Cardi B
Best Female R&B/Pop Artist: Kehlani; also nominated: Ari Lennox, Coco Jones, Ella Mai, Jill Scott, Mariah the Scientist, Olivia Dean, SZA, Tems
Best Male R&B/Pop Artist: Leon Thomas (first career win); also nominated: Brent Faiyaz, Bruno Mars, Bryson Tiller, Chris Brown, Durand Bernarr, GIVĒON, October London, Usher
Best New Artist: Olivia Dean
Video of the Year: Kehlani, “Folded”
Best Actress: Teyana Taylor; also nominated: Angela Bassett, Ayo Edebiri, Chase Infiniti, Coco Jones, Cynthia Erivo, Keke Palmer, Quinta Brunson, Regina Hall
Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan (fourth career win); also nominated: Aaron Pierre, Aldis Hodge, Anthony Mackie, Colman Domingo, Damson Idris, Delroy Lindo, Denzel Washington, Sterling K. Brown
Video Director of the Year: Teyana Taylor
Fashion Vanguard Award (new category): Teyana Taylor; also nominated: A$AP Rocky, Bad Bunny, Beyoncé, Cardi B, Colman Domingo, Doechii, Rihanna, Zendaya
Pulse Award (new category): Druski; also nominated: 85 South Show, “Baby, This Is Keke Palmer,” Charlamagne Tha God, Don Lemon, “It Is What It Is,” Joe and Jada, “On the Radar,” R&B Money Podcast
BET Her: “girl, get up.,” Doechii featuring SZA; also nominated: “Already Good (Tasha Slide),” Tasha Cobbs Leonard; “Be Great,” Jill Scott featuring Trombone Shorty; “Beautiful People,” Jill Scott; “First,” Tems; “Go Girl,” Summer Walker featuring Latto and Doja Cat; “Gorgeous,” Doja Cat; “Lady Lady,” Olivia Dean
Viewers’ Choice Award: “Burning Blue,” Mariah the Scientist; also nominated: “Chains & Whips,” Clipse featuring Kendrick Lamar; “Chanel,” Tyla; “Folded,” Kehlani; “I Just Might,” Bruno Mars; “It Depends,” Chris Brown featuring Bryson Tiller; “Man I Need,” Olivia Dean; “Outside,” Cardi B; “Raindance,” Dave & Tems
Rising Star Award: Jazzy’s World TV (Jazlyn Guerra, 16)
Honorary awards (non-competitive): Icon of the Year, Teyana Taylor; Living Legend Icon Award, Ms. Lauryn Hill; Ultimate Icon Award, Sylvia Rhone
Two categories with confirmed nominee fields where I could not verify a winner from available coverage: Sportsman of the Year (nominees included Aaron Judge, Anthony Edwards, Caleb Williams, Jalen Brunson, Jalen Hurts, LeBron James, Shedeur Sanders, Stephen Curry) and Best Movie (nominees included “Highest 2 Lowest,” “Him,” “Sinners,” “Wicked: For Good,” among others). I’m flagging these rather than guessing; if you need them filled in before publishing, I can run another search specifically for those two results.