The full nomination list for the 5th edition of AFRIMA has been released and from the list, South African Shekhinah and DRC’s Maitre Gims are the most nominated artistes. They are followed by Tanzania’s Diamond Plantinumz, Ethiopia’s Betty G, Nigeria’s Simi and South Africa’s Nasty C.
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 on Tuesday, August 28, 2018.
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.
This year, through the 8,009 entries submitted by African music professionals across the globe and the painstaking work of the International Jury of AFRIMA embodied by 13 renowned African music and culture professionals assessing the submitted entries, the 5th AFRIMA Nominees List has remained true to the AFRIMA tradition of discovering authentically fresh African voices and music while also recognising the hard work and diligence of consistent chart-topping music makers.
Commenting on the final nominee’s 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. It resulted in heated sessions and far from unanimous decisions. Being an odd number of jurors revealed to be a blessing allowing us to make decisions by the majority. After a lot of sweat, long discussions and late hours, the jurors designated the best artistes in each given genre. It is now up to the public to go through this process and help to find the new African talents!”
We are convinced that these new artists with unique capabilities are stamping their mark in the various genres. They are and will definitely continue giving the established musicians a run for their money”, the veteran music producer from Kenya concluded.
Leading the nomination pack, Maître Gims’ has received nods for Album of the Year (for his March 2018 released ‘Ceinture Noire’ album); Artiste of the Year, Best Artiste in African Pop, Song of the Year, Song Writer of the Year, Best African Collaboration and Best Male Artiste in Central Africa.
Similarly, Shekhinah’s seven nominations also gave her a slot each in the Album of the Year category and Producer of the Year (for her October 2017 released ‘Rose Gold’ album); these are as well as Song Writer of the Year; Best African Dance/Choreography; Best Artiste in African RnB & Soul; Revelation of the African Continent; Producer of the Year; and Best Female Artiste in Southern Africa.
