Africa music’s big names make AFRIMA 2014 Nominees’ List

…Mafikizolo, Davido, Amr Diab, Diamond Platnumz, Fally Ipupa, Uhuru, others make AFRIMA 2014 nominees list

…as the six-week voting process stirs fever pitch excitement

The five regions of Africa gave an impressive account of their respective music industry as the 2014 Nominees’ List of the All Africa Music Awards, AFRIMA, was unveiled today, September 23, 2014 during a world press conference held at Protea Hotel Leadway, Maryland Estate, Lagos, Nigeria.

Present for the AFRIMA Panel of Jurors at the unveiling event was jury member Mr. Oscar Kidjo, a seasoned music producer, representing West Africa (Benin Republic). Also representing the International Committee of AFRIMA were: Executive Producer/President, Mike Dada; Director Brand Communication & Sponsorship, Matlou Tsotetsi; Chairman, International Media Committee, Steve Ayorinde and Co-Producer/Country Director, Nigeria, Kingsley James. Other attendees included African music industry personalities, heads of partner corporate organisations and music industry stakeholders.

Although popular names in the continental music industry showed up on the highly-anticipated Nominees’ List of the awards project that is rewarding excellence by budding and established music professionals as well as journalists, the nominations of a generous number of emerging African artistes in many award categories threw more excitement into the unveiling event witnessed by local and international press as well as critical stakeholders in the music industry.

Among the well-known African music names on the nominees list are: Mafikizolo (South Africa) 6 nominations, Davido (Nigeria) 6 nominations, Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania) 2 nominations, Amr Diab (Egypt) 2 nominations, Zahara (South Africa) 3 nominations, Angelique Kidjo (Benin Republic) 2 nominations, Fally Ipupa (DRC) 1 nomination, Sakordie (Ghana) 1 nomination, Tiwa Savage (Nigeria) 2 nominations, Uhuru (South Africa) 5 nominations and Mi Casa (South Africa) 4 nominations. Leading the budding music acts on AFRIMA Nominees’ List is: TemiDollFace (Nigeria) 4 nominations, others are Wiyaala (Ghana) 3 nominations; Patoranking (Nigeria) 2 nominations; Davina Green (Zimbabwe) 1 nomination and Noura Mint Seymale (Mauritania) 2 nominations, among others.

Heavyweight African music producer, Don Jazzy (Nigeria) made the Africa Producer of the Year category for the song ‘Eminado’ alongside top contenders: Robbie Malinga & Mojela Thebe (South Africa) for ‘Impilo’; Oskido and Shizzi (Nigeria) for ‘Tchelete’; Mikky Me (Nigeria) ‘Down’ and Del’B (Nigeria) for ‘Pull Over’.

Giving details into the criteria by which the nominees list emerged, Matlou Tsotetsi explained that the jury panel adhered strictly to the entry submission requirements while being guided by AFRIMA’s core values of FACE IT –Fairness, Authenticity, Creativity, Excellence, Integrity and Transparency. “The adjudication panel of jurors consisting of experienced names in the continental and global music industry were in Lagos in July to evaluate the submitted works. The entries which made the laid down criteria and qualified on merit were shortlisted based on their scores and this was sent to our Kenya-based auditors who then tabulated these scores. The result is what we are presenting today”, Ms. Tsotetsi stated.

While 30 of the 33 award categories will be open for voting by the public and AFRIMA Academy of Voters, Mike Dada revealed that recipients of the AFRIMA Legend Award and the Africa Entertainment/Music Journalist Award will be decided by the International Committee of AFRIMA and announced at the main awards ceremony on Sunday, November 9, 2014.

Mike Dada said further that the AFRIMA voting online platform will open on Tuesday, September 30 for the five-week voting process, while encouraging the public, fans and followers of African music to visit the AFRIMA website,   www.afrima.org , to view the nominees in the 30 categories of the award and vote for their favourite artiste (s).

For the 2014 edition, the award project opened entries on May 15 and closed the submission of entries on July 21 in the process receiving a staggering total of 2,025 works for assessment submitted by African music industry artistes, professionals and journalists.

The AFRIMA Jury, made up of seasoned African industry practitioners, were in Lagos, Nigeria, between July 31 to August 6 for the week-long adjudication of entries from artistes, songwriters, video directors, producers as well as journalists. In addition to Oscar Kidjo, the other jury members include: Kawesa Richard (Uganda) Eastern Africa; Tabu Osusa (Kenya) Eastern Africa; Laolu Akintobi (Nigeria) Western Africa; Robert Esong Ekukole (Cameroon), Central Africa; Kiki Toure (Equatorial Guinea) Central Africa; Delani Makhalima (Zimababwe) Southern Africa; Chris Syren (South Africa) Southern Africa; Angela Martins African Union Commission; Rab Bakari (USA) Diaspora and Rita Ray (UK), Diaspora. The result of the Jury’s work and the thorough collation by AFRIMA’s Kenya-based internal auditors has produced the AFRIMA 2014 Nominees’ List.

Nominees are vying for the coveted AFRIMA trophy in 33 categories divided into the regional and continental categories and including the AFRIMA Legend Award –a honour for a great African who has contributed immensely to the advancement of African music, the creative sector in general and impacted on the positive image of the continent and its global reckoning.

The continental award categories are: Best Male Artiste - Inspirational Music, Best Female Artiste - Inspirational Music, Best Inspirational Music Group, Best Traditional African Artiste, Best African Contemporary Artiste, Most Promising African Artiste, Revelation of the Year, Producer of the Year, Artiste of the Year, Song of the Year, Video of the year, Songwriter of the Year, Album of the Year, R ‘n’ B Song of the Year, Pop Song of the Year, Rap Song of the Year, Collaboration of the Year, Best African Ragga/Reggae/Dancehall Song, Best African Group, Music/Entertainment Journalist of the Year and AFRIMA Legend Award.

Regional categories are: Best Male Artiste East Africa, Best Female Artiste East Africa, Best Male Artiste Central Africa, Best Male Artiste Central Africa, Best Female Artiste Central Africa, Best Male Artiste Southern Africa, Best Female Artiste Southern Africa, Best Male Artiste North Africa, Best Female Artiste North Africa, Best Male Artiste West Africa, Best Female Artiste West Africa,

In partnership with the African Union Commission, All Africa Music Awards promises to be a premium star-studded event on November 9, preceded by the AFRIMA Music Village between November 4 and 7, a four-day festival style open concert of non-stop music, fanfare and exhibition from countries in Africa and performances by African artistes. There will also be an African Music Summit, November 6 to 7, themed "Reviving the Business of Music in Africa". The two-day conference will be a platform for the music industry stakeholders to engage and deliberate on how the industry can be nurtured and be a major contributor to national and continental economies.