south african pop culture community
15TH ANNUAL SAMA RESULTS
Best Male Solo: Abdullah Ibrahim – Senzo
Born in 1934, Abdullah Ibrahim is one of South Africa’s most distinguished composers and pianists. Formerly known as Adolph Johannes Brand and Dollar Brand, his music reflects the rich cultural heritage of his childhood in the multicultural port suburbs of Cape Town. From traditional African music to raga, gospel to jazz, Abdullah’s sounds are uniquely his own. His career has spanned over four decades and he’s released well over 20 records during this time. He has toured extensively and usually performs his own compositions accompanied by a band but he’s been known to do solo shows and performance of others’ works. Although he moved overseas during the 1960s, he always remained firmly aligned with the liberation movement in South Africa and returned home in 1990 shortly after Mandela’s release from prison. His extraordinarily beautiful music beats with the rhythm of a complex heart and traces the chords of human emotion with an unaffected ease. Arresting in its detail and healing in its gentle tones and movement, Abdullah is one of SA’s greatest musical treasures.
Best Female Solo Artist and Album of the Year: Lira – Soul in Mind
Relatively new in the industry, Lira is a 29-year-old with a hypnotising and melodic voice. Soul in Mind is her third album and it’s a work defined by its honest expression of soulful femininity and unconfined joy. With just two other albums under her belt, she is fast becoming a major player in the local industry having beaten off the likes of stalwart Judith Sephuma and the massively popular Zamajobe to claim the title of Best Female Solo Artist. Not only that but she bested 20 other artists including Zebra & Giraffe, Prime Circle, Chris Chameleon, Dj Cleo and the Parlotones to earn the title of Album of the Year for Soul in Mind. Blending a divinely African taste into melodic pop refrains tinted with jazz and soul, Lira’s music has an undeniable power to move both your feet and your soul. She is certain to appear on the SAMA nomination list for many years to come.
Best Duo/Group: Soweto Gospel Choir – Live at the Nelso
Founded to celebrate the unique inspirational intensity of African Gospel music, the Soweto Gospel Choir is a powerful group made up by over 50 members. The group is directed by the talented duo of David Mulovhedzi and Beverly Bryer. It draws on church choirs in and around Soweto, selecting only the best talent to form this collective to join their ranks. The choir is able to perform in six of SA’s eleven official languages and have sung at several high profile events. These include the third 46664 concert as well as supporting top acts such as The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Johnny Clegg, Peter Gabriel and Corinne Bailey Rae. A choir with a heart, the group founded an Aids orphanage in 2003 called Nkosi’s Haven Vukani and they have, to date, collected over R3 million for their foundation. Mixing earthy rhythms with rich harmonies, their music expresses the inimitable energy of South Africa.
Other notable wins include: Gang of Instrumentals winning Best Urban Pop Album for Round 3, Zebra & Giraffe winning Best English Rock Album for Collected Memories and Claudio Pavin and Arri Reschke winning Best Music Video for their work on The Parlotones’ track ‘Overexposed’.
Comment
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Comment by One Small Seed on May 7, 2009 at 10:39am -
Here's a follow up note on the event from Kwanele Sosibo at MTN Xploded:
How we killed the SAMAs with our trusty gang of crooks
With the New Academics, Enyonini Mission and Kaalkop Waarheid losing to 340ml, Amadodana aseWeseli and Van Coke Kartel respectively, there were plenty of disappointed entourages avoiding eye-contact at Sun City by Saturday midnight. But it’s safe to say that the above awards went to the obvious, safe winners, which is something that can be said for more than a few categories. I guess that’s how the folks prefer it. Afro-pop is a perfect example of the predictability I’m talking about. By all accounts, Theo Kgosinkwe cruised to victory with I Am.
Generally, the upsets were kept to a bare minimum, with the possible exception of the hip-hop category, usually the most beef-inspiring one. Teargas came out of nowhere to scoop Zuluboy, Da L.E.S., JR and Nemza. With Da LES’ crossover appeal and Zuluboy’s emergence as a bonafide star with a prominent acting gig, I figured it was a tussle between the two. There were other sleepers, like Brickz taking the best kwaito album category from the likes of Thebe, Big Nuz, and his label boss Mzekezeke.
For some, it was a surprise to see an Afrikaans act as the top selling album, namely Leonie May with Vergeet M Nie. The Afrikaans community’s buying power and loyalty is notorious, hence the most downloaded true tone and full song being Elizma Theron and Nicholas Louw’s Kom Ons Vat n’ Kans. Although DJ Cleo’s Hands Up was the biggest selling mobile music download, that was only a caller tune. Furthermore, the popularity of Rhythmic Elements’ 2 By 2, the record of the year by public vote and this year’s benchmark (Tira’s after party set), did not translate into sales for the North West duo. So you can guess who was on the anti-piracy bandwagon in the public service announcements. I would think obscurity would be the most feared killer of artists, but then again, I don’t make music, I only go to the gigs – sometimes even for free.
The SAMAs can sometimes seem like a “competition” grounded in political correctness, affiliations, alliances and interests all converging. It’s all the things things that point towards a culture of influence based on clout as opposed to musical innovation. My real surprise was how Lira seemed to win so many awards (four) despite the additional categories being apparently an attempt to forestall yellow carpet sweeps. On that note, peace to Goldfish and do have squizz at all the gigs we've been up to the past week or so, especially how we partied at Sin City (on the news section of http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.mtnxploaded.co.za).
© 2010 Created by giuseppe
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