Dancehall Reggae Mzansi Award 2015 Winners

The third annual Dancehall Reggae Mzansi Awards [DRM Awards] were held at Soweto Theater on Saturday 19, December. The event, organised by Ms Soweturn, aims to reward excellence in South African Reggae & Dancehall music and embracing the good work done by people involved in the Reggae Dancehall Scene.

NC Dread was the biggest winner of the day, taking 3 Awards home. He scooped the coveted Artist of the Year Award, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. It came as no surprise, as he has been working, or rather, Hustling very hard through out the year to promote his music, making sure that it reaches its intended audience. He also collaborated with many artists and producers outside of his home turf for the Album – Hustle, which eventually won Album of the year. His song, Praise which he released as a single earlier in the year, and also included in the album took the Song of the Year Award.

The notable win was for Cape Town’s Azania Band, who won the Best Reggae Band. As Jah Kongo said, when he accepted the award on their behalf, Azania Band is South Africa’s finest band and has worked with international artists like IQulah, Vivian Jones and Cedric Mayton among others. Azania Band has also shared the stage with international Reggae superstars Burning Spear, Culture, Mutabaruka, the Wailers, Buju Banton, Bunny Wailer and Macka B.

Sista Phumi, who was nominated in two categories, Outstanding Woman in Reggae and Best Album, walked away with the Outstanding Woman in Reggae Award. In her acceptance speech she made mention of how ironic it is that her music is much more appreciated outside of South Africa than it is back home, and that the award was a reflection of how things are changing.

The Big Bad Sound, DJ Fanta Jozi and DJ Teedo won the awards for Best Sound, Best Male Selektor and Best Female Selektor respectively. All three won the same awards for the same categories since the inception of this awards initiative, proving to be the most popular with the voting crowd. The Vaal Never Disappoints Monthly Session DJ Pepe aka Big Man took the overall Selektor of the Year Award.

Bloemfontein was put on the map by L’titude, who had a very productive season this year and closed it off by taking home the Upcoming Artist of the Year Award. His Songs from my Walkman album was also a contender for Best Album of the year.

Newcomers in the broadcasting scene, Tshwane Capital Reggae and Dancehall Show hosted by Jah Humble, King Winner, Naffy Dread and Jah Love grabbed the Best Radio Show Award. The show which started broadcasting from Tshwane FM early this year, has four hosts and manages to squeeze in artist interviews in an hour slot.

The ceremony, which had a slight increase in attendance compared to last year, had Badda Badda as the very competent Master of Ceremony who kept the proceeding good humored and engaging. He challenged all in the industry to give support to this initiative to help it grow and also suggested a name change to Reggae Dancehall Awards, as Reggae is the Founder of all the other sub genres and therefore should be mentioned first. A valid point. The star studded [in local reggae terms] event had the theme Proudly African with all the hostesses adorned in South African traditional attires and the patrons showing off African designs and attires. Skank and The Roots came all the way from the Eastern Cape to attend the Ceremony and show support and appreciation for their nomination for Best Reggae Band. The entertainment was provided by the regular Mandella; the fierce General Plago; hotta Faya Emperor Blazer formerly known as Skeleton Blazer, the staunch Rastafarian Don Franco Tafari and the ever present Jah Kongo. Newcomers, Botanist and D’Gang also performed. JD Prophet opened and closed the ceremony with insightful poetry, invoking the spirits of the ancestors.

A delightful event all in all and a huge shout out to the organiser Ms Soweturn. There is still lots of room for improvement to make the Awards bigger and get better participation from all sectors and all regions and include everyone, as these are the only Awards that celebrates Reggae and Dancehall culture in South Africa. It was a general sentiment coming from the acceptance speeches that this has to grow, there is a huge potential for growth and it can only be achieved through transparency, participation and support by providing feedback, suggestions and input to the organisers and perhaps a panel or Award Team could be set up.

Dancehall Reggae Mzansi Award 2015 Winners are:

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
NC Dread

Check the full nomination list here.

 

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