Lwazi Nongauza
South African music is exploding.
The evidence is the record number of entries received for SAMA27 – a total of 1,163!
The SAMAs are the official awards of the South African Music Association.
The Best Collaboration category received the biggest number of entries at 170. The newly added Best Amapiano Album earned an impressive 63 entries and kwaito proved its vitality attracting 19 entries in the Best Kwaito Album category.
Gqom held its own with 14 entries for Best Gqom Album.
According to Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA) CEO Nhlanhla Sibisi, the music industry stakeholders have responded positively to the call for entries by the SAMAs that started in November 2020 and ended at midnight on 31 January.
“We are greatly encouraged by this huge number of entries that came despite the challenges we faced as a nation from Covid-19 pandemic.”
SAMA22 entries clocked in at 400, SAMA23 earned 740, SAMA24 had 778, SAMA25 saw 752 while SAMA26 attracted 802 entries.
It was announced in January that the upcoming 27th edition of the SAMAs would have separate categories for Kwaito, Amapiano and Gqom Albums.
In an interview with Scrolla.Africa, Sibisi said the move reflected a rise in the popularity of these three genres.
“The announcement about the three new categories has been met with wholesale jubilation by the industry and the fans alike,’’ said Sibisi.
The list of nominated artists will be made public in April 2021.
Video source: YouTube
Picture source: @TheSAMAs