Maphorisa And Njelic React To SA Amapiano Awards. Amapiano artists in the country are being recognised with an award show that focuses on them and their sound. The announcement of the first annual South African Amapiano Music Awards was made on Twitter to highlight notable achievers within a genre that’s taking the world by storm.
The awards became a topic of the day considering that there was no award series or ceremony that recognised amapiano separately. DJ Maphorisa is one of the artists who made it to the nomination list, however, the nominations were not as many as fans expected. Maphorisa took to social media to ask who the creators of the awards are. See tweet:
Njelic who has contributed to the growth of amapiano did not make the nomination list and took to social media to express his feelings. His fans were also not pleased by the decision of the exclusion of Njelic. See tweet:
According to Charmaine Mthethwa, SAAPA vice-president of communication, the 20-category awards were founded and organised by a novice entity known as Amapiano Governing Body. The organisation is made up of “industry professionals and stakeholders who are passionate about the genre and felt the need to award its creators,” she said.
Mthethwa told Sowetan that the organisation will reveal their sponsors for the public-voted awards in due course. “The governing body of the SA Amapiano Awards felt like Amapiano was not receiving the full acknowledgement it deserves. These young children work so hard and despite Amapiano having existed for nearly a decade now, there hasn’t been an award show that has fully embraced their talents,” she added.
The categories include Friends Of Amapiano, which recognises artists who are not necessarily classified as amapiano acts but have made notable contributions to the genre; and Best Amapiano Street Dancer, a category that awards dancers who propel both the music and Yanos culture through their distinctive street dance moves. Organisers have promised that winners will receive R10,000 in each category, while a grand prize of R50,000 will be handed to the artist that will scoop the song of the year.
