Get ready for the MAMA’s – MTV Africa!
Our dedicated scribe of the moment, Reuben ‘The Matrix’ Malema, attended the MTV press announcement of the ‘MAMA awards’, MTV’s pan-African music awards brought to you by MTV and their sponsor ZAIN (a telecommunications company…). He reckons healthy competition is the way forward to uplift and keep on diversifying and enriching our music scene, we have to admit, we agree! See our photostory at our RepresentFlickr set here. Read all about the event below – the official media release follows. Sharpile RTMM!
It’s official, MTV Networks Africa is here! And if all the over-the-top hoo-hah of Tuesday night has any truth to it, then the end for the MTN SAMA Awards is definitely not nigh but rather in a very real way so resoundingly here. The setting of MTV’s “take-over-Africa” spectacle was the Japanese themed Tokyo Sky of Fourways, Johannesburg. Ja, the ambiguity was very clear: the guillotine’s blade has gut-gushingly fallen on the video-jockey controlled entertainment industry in this part of Africa!
I have to admit though, with all the fine sushi, on the house liquor en masse (Double Remmie Martin and Lemonade…one more please sir!), the glitz and splendour that was blatantly flaunted, the Network has a lot of credibility and plenty to offer Africa’s musicians in sharp contrast to the MTN SAMA Awards that favours the same few artists all the time and only focuses on SA. Let us not forget the controversy-riddled quagmire of the recent MTN SAMAs which did not help the situation either, in fact if anything – this year’s SAMAs managed to quicken the event’s long awaited coup de grace. Competition is often a healthy thing and in this case it’s long overdue.
The Media targeted event (Nou Ek Spog!) had the makings of a typical TRL show on MTV Base. The MC was as chirpy as all the free flowing video mouthpieces on the network’s channels. The program direction was lively with a twist of spring. The audience (le paparazzi!) was very receptive, although at one stage a tad disappointed (we’ll come back to this one…). Mr. Alex Okosi, a Nigerian born, American raised, British groomed and now South African Corporate Executive is the driving force behind MTV Africa’s no-holds-barred takeover bid. His passion and inspiring vibrancy is believable enough to prop-up one’s expectations of the fresh wave of reprieve that has at last beached on our shores.
An array of Dj’s and musicians were bopping away, including Cleo, KB, boys from Skwatta Kamp and Brickz. One particular artist caught my attention, the 12 year old In-cha who is an ingenious (lest I be tempted to declare her a maestro) violinist. Should you be in the mood for a paced repertoire of all instruments stringed, then this minor is the surest way to go!
HE Q&A SESSION
Members of the South African media fraternity seemed to be a bit annoyed by the macho talk of the Network oligarch, but of course as always Yours Truly was there to REPRESENT you all! Alex Okosi rounded off the announcements with a declaration of faith and optimism about the network’s new found flavor in Africa’s melting infusion of cultures and heritages, the same was favorably reiterated by a legion of artists, including our very own Zonkhe and the Hip-Hop cat: Slikour.
However, when the time came for the panel to field some questions, our trusted and very opinionated manchurian candidates kept quiet! WHY? Enter The Matrix…
Q1. How will MTV-Africa avoid the mess that the SAMAs ended up in (vis-à-vis: The same artists winning with the same song, in the same category 2 years in a row)?
Alex Okosi: MTV Networks has a very complex and fair system of screening and eventually filtering through all the wining names, this is managed by it’s dedicated academy of music. The process starts from the selection to viewer’s votes until the actual handing over of the award.
Q2. Why then will the first MTV-Africa awards be held in Abuja – Nigeria (I respectfully ask this without being facetious, because I believe that South Africans would like to know, especially when DSTV will be helping to distribute the signal all over Africa and the rest of the world)?
Alex Okosi: Well apart from the fact that i’m Nigerian (crowd laughs!), MTV-Africa has 15 million viewers in Nigeria alone, of course DSTV is a very important partner to us, but business and all other sense dictates that we target our biggest market first. Nigeria being that market, followed by South Africa and of course these award ceremonies will be held annually and South Africa will have its turn.
I think his forwardness was fair enough to keep me at bay.
EVENT BUILD-UP
In early November MTV-Africa will be flighting a kick-ass preparation concert in (you’ve guessed it…), Johannesburg! Then in the same month the mother of all main events: The MTV-Africa Music Awards (aka The MAMAS) will take center stage at the velodrome in Abuja – Nigeria. Start getting your travelling papers in order, because this promises to be the mother of all award ceremonies Africa has ever seen.
With that I say…MTN SAMAs quickly Exit and Enter the MTV MAMAs. Oops…there goes the neighbourhood.
Reuben-The Matrix-Malema
Veni, vidi, vinci.
MTV & ZAIN TO UPLIFT & HONOUR CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN MUSIC TALENT IN PAN-AFRICAN AWARDS CEREMONY
MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain Debuts November 2008
Johannesburg, 12 August 2008: Pan African entertainment network, MTV Networks Africa, and international telecommunications giant, Zain, have joined forces to launch the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain , an exhilarating celebration of Africa’s music talent. MTV’s first ever Awards ceremony for the African continent, the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain honours the passion, creativity and artistry of the African music industry, showcasing the Continent’s brightest and best contemporary music and artists to a global audience.
The first, star-studded MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain music and entertainment extravaganza will take place at the Velodrome, Abuja, Nigeria on Saturday 22 November 2008 in front of thousands of musicians, celebrities, media and music fans. The MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain will take the form of a 2-hour TV spectacular, combining performances from top African and international stars with award presentations and an international superstar host.
Conceived as the ultimate celebration of African contemporary music talent, the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain will provide a major promotional platform for the burgeoning African music industry, championing, supporting and empowering African talent by broadcasting their music around the world via MTV’s global multimedia network. The awards will focus on contemporary African and international genres loved by the MTV audience in sub-Saharan Africa including hip-hop, hip life, R&B, rock, Afro Pop, Afro Beat, kwaito, bongo flava, dancehall, soul, rock and funk.
Commented Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, MTV Networks Africa, ‘The MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain will create an unprecedented global platform for African musicians to shine and to spread the word about Africa’s extraordinary music talent. We are very excited to partner with Zain to realise our vision of creating an MTV awards ceremony for the artists and music fans of the African continent.’
Announcing the sponsorship, Mwambu Wanendeya, Zain Group Corporate Communications Director for Africa, said, ‘Through this partnership with MTV, the world’s leading television music network, we are demonstrating our commitment to the promotion of African musical talent which we believe is among the best in the world. We are committed to showing the world the depth of this talent through this sponsorship. This is a natural follow on from our sponsorship of the 90th birthday concert for Nelson Mandela which was held recently in London and which attracted a global audience of over 1 billion viewers.’
The MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain will be preceded by four high octane concerts celebrating the musicians nominated for the awards. The concerts, featuring international musicians and local nominees, will take place in Johannesburg (5 November), Nairobi (8 November), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (13 November) and Lagos (15 November).
The MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain will broadcast around the world on MTV TV, online, mobile and radio platforms, including pan-African TV channel MTV base (DStv Channel 322 and GTV), MTV2 (USA) and African terrestrial TV channels STV and AIT (Nigeria), TBC (Tanzania) and TV3 (Ghana), and selected partner radio stations across the continent.
The MTV Africa Music Awards are sponsored by Zain as part of a three year partnership with MTV Networks Africa.
