Tiwa Savage, Wizkid, Tekno,  Flavour Lead AFRIMA Continental Nominees list

FUNSHO AROGUNDADE

Nigeria’s Afro-pop stars Tiwa Savage, Wizkid, Tekno and Flavour are leading with multiple nominations as the 13-man Jury of the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, released the highly anticipated 2016 Nominees List for the Continental Categories of Africa’s leading awards project.

Sultry singer and Mavin Records’ leading lady, Tiwa Savage leads the nomination chart with five mentions in various categories. They are Artiste of the Year; Best Artiste/Duo/Group/Band In African Contemporary; Album of the Year; Song of the Year In Africa; and Best African Collaboration.

Wizkid, Flavour and Tekno have three nominations each. While Wizkid and Tekno have nominations in the categories of Artiste of the Year; Best Artiste In African Pop; and Song of the Year, Afro-Highlife star Flavour bagged nominations in the Best Artiste/Duo/Group/Band In African Contemporary; Best African Collaboration and Video of The Year.

The trio of Tiwa Savage, Wizkid, Flavour and Tekno also has to their credit the nominees in the category of Producer of The Year –Don Jazzy (Tiwa Savage’s If I Start To Talk; Young John (Wizkid’s Baba Nla); and DJ Coublon (Tekno’s Duro).

Yemi Alade has two nominations in the categories of Album of the Year and Best Female Artiste in Inspirational, while Falz and Simi are among the fresh African talents shortlisted for the Revelation of the Year nomination.

The 2016 AFRIMA Continental Nominees List was released to the public via the media and on the AFRIMA website www.afrima.org on Tuesday, 6 September, two weeks after the Nominees list for the Regional Categories of the awards were unveiled on Monday, 22 August at a Press Conference in Lagos.

This year also saw the introduction of an innovative category by the International Jury of AFRIMA titled “African Fans Favourite”, to recognize African artistes who create chartbusting, anthemic songs that propel the artistes to great popularity within and outside their respective countries and regions.

The nominees are Nigeria’s D’Banj (Emergency) & Phyno ft. Olamide (Fada Fada); Cote d’Ivoire singers – H Magnum Ft Black M (Aucun Mytho) & Kiff No Beat (La Vie De Louga); Democratic Republic of Congo’s Maitre Gims Ft Nsika (Sapés Comme Jamais); Mozambique’s Mr. Bow (Vida Boa); and Kenya’s Nyashinki (Now You Know).

Speaking on the Jury’s position, Associate Producer, AFRIMA, Ms. Adenrele Niyi, said the gap between when the Regional and Continental Nominees List were released was necessary for the Jury to painstakingly review and grade the qualified entries submitted and carefully and accurately fit them into their appropriate categories.

“There is the need to be accurate right from the process of verifying eligibility of entries, to the process of collating and finalising results. Screening and selection of entries are evolving processes which we work painstakingly at to ensure transparency and fairness,” Ms. Niyi stated.

The Regional Categories which featured Best Female Artistes and Best Male Artistes of the five regions, nominated 65 artistes while 184 nominees make up the newly released continental categories with online public voting expected to begin on Monday, 12 September on the AFRIMA voting platform domiciled on www.afrima.org

Also commending the AFRIMA Jury to the adjudication process, Director of Communication/Sponsorship, AFRIMA, Ms. Matlou Tsotetsi observed that having been tasked with the responsibility, the Jury dedicated time and effort to get the best expressions of the rich African cultural heritage in music.

Tsotetsi said: “The urbane mix of African sounds in sync with modern tunes and works that promote the positive image of Africa to the world, are some of the guidelines the Jury worked with during the screening/selection exercise.

“AFRIMA will continue to maintain exemplary standards and uphold African music and culture as it had done since inception in 2014. The process is very transparent and the public can follow the entire process online and make any enquiries to the AFRIMA Secretariat,” she concluded.

Public voting for the nominees in the different categories of the awards opens on Monday, 12 September and ends Saturday, 5 November.

In partnership with the AUC and the Official Host City, Lagos State, AFRIMA 3.0. calendar of events will include the Africa Music Business Summit on Friday, 4 November, and the AFRIMA Music Village, an open concert-style festival featuring nominees and other top billed music stars.

The grand awards ceremony holds on Sunday, 6 November with over 6,000 guests expected in Lagos, Nigeria for the various events.