Channel O Africa Awards 2012

From Times of Zambia via George da Soulchild

Last year the Zambian music industry promised to be heading for greatness as Zambia’s hip-hop group Zone Fam were nominated for the prestigious Channel O Music Video Awards but this year the story is different.

Africa’s foremost urban music channel, Channel O announced the nominees for its prestigious 9th Annual Music Video Awards on Friday, 31 August 2012 and there was no room for any Zambian videos as big continental stars got the nominations.

Among the leading multiple nominees are Kenyan hip hop hotshots, Camp Mulla who have matched their Flight of the Fish Eagle – Naturally Supreme Most Gifted Newcomer Video and Most Gifted African East Video nominations for “Party Don’t Stop” (featuring Collo) with a high-profile nomination in the Most Gifted Video of the Year category for the video for “Fresh All Day”.The latter video also sees Camp Mulla in contention for the Most Gifted Duo, Group or Featuring Video category where they are up against a powerful pack of artistes – South Africans MiCasa (“Heavenly Sent”) and Liquideep (“Still”) as well as Zimbabwe’s Buffalo Souljah ft Cabo Snoop (“Styra Inonyengesa”) and Nigerian superstars, P Square (“Chop My Money” featuring Akon and Mayd).

Another newcomer earning more than one nomination is fiercely indie and genre-defying South African artiste, Toya Delazy who matches her Flight of the Fish Eagle – Naturally Supreme Most Gifted Newcomer Video nomination for “Pump It On” with one for Most Gifted Video of the Year. Delazy and Camp Mulla are joined on the Flight of the Fish Eagle – Naturally Supreme Most Gifted Newcomer Video category by Nigeria’s Davido (for “Dami Duro”), Ghana’s E.L. (“Turn The Lights Down”) and South Africa’s Donald (“I Deserve”).

Two of the most closely watched categories at the annual Channel O Music Video Awards are traditionally Most Gifted Male Video and Most Gifted Female Video – and this year is no different.

In 2012, one of the awards’ leading nominees, South Africa’s Khuli Chana is in the running for Most Gifted Male for his video “Tswa Daar” featuring Notshi – a video that has also seen the rapper earn nominations for Most Gifted Hip Hop Video and Most Gifted Video of the Year. Going up against Khuli Chana for Most Gifted Male are Angola’s Big Nelo with “Sente O Beat”, South Africa’s Pro with “Makasana”, Nigeria’s D’Banj with “Oliver Twist” and Tanzania’s Ay for “Speak With Your Body” featuring Romeo and Lamyia.

Most Gifted Female Video is likely to prove as hotly fought as its male counterpart. Leading the charge is multiple nominee, Mozambique’s Lizha James with her video “Leva Boy” featuring Perola. James, who is also in the running for Most Gifted R&B Video and Most Gifted Video of the Year, faces competition from Nigeria’s “Tiwa Savage” with “Love Me Love Me Love Me”, Nigeria’s Mo’Cheddah featuring Phenom with “See Me”, Uganda’s Keko featuring Maddraxx with “Make You Dance” and breakout South African star Zahara with her megahit “Loliwe”.


2012 will see the awards taking place on Saturday, 17th November at Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, taking the Channel O Music Video Awards to Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa for the first time. “We continue to recognize and acknowledge the magnitude of African music and musicians. The nominations in this year’s awards are yet another reflection of how Channel O is celebrating African musical talent, how it keeps growing from strength to strength and how we keep striving to stay Original African,” says Leslie Kasumba, Channel O Africa Manager.
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