MUTIAT, Alli
…As public voting to commence today Saturday, September 1
Democratic Republic of Congo-born international recording artiste and rapper, Maître Gims and South Africa’s fast rising songstress and songwriter, Shekhinah, have received seven nominations each to emerge highest nominated artistes for the 5th edition of the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA. This was made known when the African Union Commission, AUC, and the International Jury of the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA released the highly anticipated full list of the Regional and Continental Categories of the annual awards ceremony to the public recently.
Closely following the top contenders are Tanzania’s Diamond Platnumz and Ethiopia’s Betty G who each earned six nominations; while Simi (Nigeria) and Nasty C (South Africa) got on the 5th AFRIMA nominees list with five nominations apiece.
In its position as the biggest awards event on the continent, AFRIMA rewards the continent’s music professionals in 36 Regional and Continental categories including four new awards categories namely African DJ of the Year; Best African Dance/Choreography; African Lyricist/Rapper of the Year and Best African Act in Diaspora, introduced in June 2018 by the African Union and the International Committee of AFRIMA to give room for expansion and inclusiveness in the African music industry.
The Regional Category, which consists of Best Female artistes and Best Male artistes in the five regions of Africa, features 79 nominees while the Continental Category which honours exceptional work in different African music genres, boasts of 260 nominees with both categories making up a total number of 339 music professionals and songs nominated for the 2018 edition of the continental awards.
Commenting on the final nominees list for the 5th AFRIMA and how the jury arrived at finding the best musical works within the year under review, AFRIMA Juror representing Eastern Africa, Mr. Tabu Osusa, said, “This year, AFRIMA registered a record number of entries in its competition. We were very pleased to notice that mostly new talents have entered the competition. The 13 jurors had a hard task going through over 8000 talented and creative entries.
Nigeria’s Simi has earned five nominations namely: Album of the Year (For Simisola’ released in September 2018), Artiste of the Year, Song Writer of the Year, Best Artiste in African Pop, and Best Female Artiste in Western Africa.
Public voting will commence on the AFRIMA website today Saturday, September 1, where both continental and regional nominees in the 36 AFRIMA awarding categories will compete against one another for the coveted 23.9 carat gold-plated AFRIMA Trophy. Nominees will depend on their fans and followers spread across the globe to vote for them in an open voting process via the AFRIMA website, www.afrima.org
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