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5TH MTN SWAMAS A FLEX

30/12/2021 08:21:00 BY DUDU DUBE

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MBABANE – The fifth MTN SWAMA awards were a flex.

The live awards show gave artists in Eswatini a night to remember when they delivered a celebration of the arts in the country under the theme ‘Flexa Flexa’.
They were held at the Happy Valley Hotel, where over 10 artists walked away with awards. The show was streamed on the SWAMA page as well as the MTN Eswatini page. SWAMA is a professional non-profit organisation whose mission is to discover, unearth and promote local musicians and artists.

Awareness

According to the organisation’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Zoe Nonde, the association works to increase the general awareness of its members by raising their profile, creating opportunities and above all by connecting artists to appreciative audiences and to each other. “SWAMA works throughout the year to bring members opportunities to showcase at festivals and find opportunities to be involved with events. We also work closely with the national broadcasters and written publications to ensure their members’ releases that are eligible for the charts, programmes and columns are included,” she said.

As reported earlier by this publication, this year’s winners were awarded E10 000 for each category. Worth noting is that there was a 100 per cent increase as artists were awarded E5 000 in previous years. The ‘Song of the Year’ award, which is the ultimate award and most coveted, will be awarded E20 000 this year.
Taking home E20 000 was DJ Cup on his song dubbed ‘Emaphupho’ featuring Mandisa Mamba.

Scooped

Last year’s ‘Song of The Year’ award was scooped by the song ‘Happiness’ by DJ Cup and Slotta featuring Mvelo. The awards main aim is to pay tribute to artists who have played a pivotal role in the revolution of the music industry in Eswatini since independence to date as it seeks to legitimise, economise and bring sustainability to the recording industry of Eswatini. Bholoja was also one of the artists who was given a Lifetime Achievement award. On the show they shared a biography of the talented ‘Indzawo Yami’ hit maker. They also took a moment to honour the late Prime Minister (PM) Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini.

It is worth noting that the SWAMA awards, which are sponsored by MTN Eswatini, were in their fifth edition, having begun in 2016 through the association, which is led by Ndzingeni Member of Parliament (MP) Lutfo Dlamini. Speaking on behalf of SWAMA was the Vice President, Lindelwa Mafa, who thanked all sponsors and the team for hosting the show successfully. She went on to applaud local artists for keeping the sector alive during the current COVID-19.

Streamers were also served with local craft from the best local acts. Mandisa left them yearning for more as she rendered two of her latest songs. Lyrikal Busta also turned it up as he shared a breathtaking hip hop set. Cyphers were also featured in partnership with Castle Lite. In an interview with DJ Matamza, who walked away with the Best DJ award, he expressed his enormous excitement and thanked his fans, the Megasound team and his family for supporting his craft.
“I was so nervous as I was placed amoung the best local DJs. I am grateful and super excited and I would like to thank my fans, the mother of my child and my Megasound crew for the support, Danko is thank you,” he said.

Excitement

Best House Song and Best Music Producer were taken by Slotta, who also expressed his excitement. “First and foremost, God did the things. On one end you hope and pray for just one award, but then boom two. The joys of having a proper support system means one can count on them to pull out all the stops in ensuring we bag such nice things. “Upwards and onwards from here and may I keep encouraging everyone in the creative scene to keep striving for excellence, don’t wait to be acknowledged, keep pushing and let the accolades find you along the way to your dreams,” he said.

Sibusiso Simelane from Upscale Live congratulated one of their artists, Lyrikal Busta, for scooping two awards. “We at Upscale Live are very excited about the awards that we took home, especially because when we started the movement late April this year, our goal was just to get a nomination so we know our music is recognised in the kingdom. With God on our side, we got eight nominations and that alone was a win, luckily we brought home two, which was Best Hip Hop Song and Best Music Video for Kings Back by Lyrikal Busta and that’s a very big achievement for us. We are very grateful to be regarded for the hardwork that we put in every day,” he added.

Overwhelming

DJ Cup, who also got the song of the year award two times in a row said: “This is overwhelming and exciting! To my New Life Team, supporters and everyone who voted, thank you so much for the continued support. Big congratulations to all the winners as well.”