Rwanda’s music industry continues to develop at a terrific speed and one of the indicators is having local artistes getting nominated for continental and global awards.
At the sixth edition of the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA), Rwanda will be represented by two big names in a prestigious ceremony that will be hosted in the West African nation of Nigeria from November 20 to 23.
‘Feel Africa’ is an initiative aimed at showcasing the African essence through its music and culture and inviting everyone to share in their experience, passion, and creativity.
This year’s theme takes inspiration from AFRIMA’s mission to change the negative perspectives of Africa by promoting the cultural uniqueness of Africa as means to counter issues hindering the unity, peaceful co-existence and economic growth of the continent.
Details from the nominations list show that nothing much has changed in the categories as West Africans have continued dominating the entire awards but this time around, 22 year old South African rapper Nsikayesizwe David Junior Ngcobo popularly known as Nasty C dominated by having a total of 9 nominations followed by Nigeria’s Davido and Burna Boy with six and five nominations respectively.
US-based Rwandan artiste Benjamin Mugisha, known as The Ben, is the only artist in the category of African Fan’s Favourite where his hit song ‘’Fine girl’’ got him a slot alongside big names on the continent who include East Africa’s WCB Wasafi, Nigeria’s Davido and Cameroonian Magasco.
Similarly, Rwandan based female duo of Charly na Nina also got nominated in the category of Best African Duo, Group or Band and they clearly can’t hide their excitement about such a big milestone in their musical journey.
In the category they are in, they are pitted against big names on the African musical scene, including B2C Entertainment from Uganda, Mi Casa from South Africa, Sauti Sol from Kenya as well as Diamond Platinumz’ WCB Wasafi outfit from Tanzania.
Speaking to The New Times, Nina said that the nomination really means a lot to them as artists as it is not a common thing to nominate artists from other parts of Africa as the West Africans normally dominate all categories.
"We are so grateful because they tend to pay attention to West African music and bigger artistes from East Africa and the mere fact that we are nominated is a blessing,’’ she said in a telephone interview.
She also called upon all her fans within and outside Rwanda to vote for them and also encourage their friends to do the same as they need their full support to be able to walk away with this prestigious award.
Asked if there was any new projects the duo was working on in the near future, Nina replied in the affirmative.
"Yes, we have new music before the end of the year!’’ she confidently said. The duo last week released their latest single ‘Umuti’.
editor@newtimesrwanda.com