AFRIMMA came back after a two-year break, and it came back loud. The event returned in Dallas, Texas, with organizers introducing a music festival alongside the awards ceremony, and it ran from September 12 to 14, this time built around a full weekend rather than just a one-night ceremony. That format shift mattered. It meant AFRIMMA wasn’t just handing out plaques; it was throwing a festival built around African music, culture, food, and fashion, with artists performing on top of collecting hardware.
For a platform like AfrobeatsGlobal, this is exactly the kind of night worth breaking down properly. Not just who won, but who the wins say something about, because AFRIMMA has quietly become one of the clearest snapshots of where African music stands globally right now.
Davido walked away with the Album of the Year award for 5ive, beating a stacked field that included Burna Boy’s No Sign of Weakness, Asake’s M$NEY, Tyla’s A-Pop, and Black Sherif’s Top of The Morning Era. Davido entered the ceremony as the leading nominee with five nominations, putting him firmly among the night’s biggest contenders, so this win was the payoff he was chasing.
Song of the Year went to BNXN and Sarz for “Back Outside,” a track that had already spent months proving itself as one of their biggest of 2026 before it picked up a trophy.
