Nairobi News

Kenyan band Sauti Sol have been nominated in this year’s MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) which will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa later in the year.

Among other notable nominees from Africa include Wizkid, Cassper Nyovest, and AKA who join Sauti Sol in leading the pack in the first round with over nine nominations.

Fifty MAMA nominees including artistes and achievers from 18 countries were revealed in 9 key music and lifestyle award categories by Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Africa and MTV Base at a star-studded reception at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday night.

Nigerian star Wizkid leads with three nominations including nods in Best Male, Best Collaboration and Personality of the Year, followed by Sauti Sol and AKA from South Africa.

BATTLE OF BANDS

An epic battle of the bands is in store in the Best Group category where Sauti Sol will face off with South Africa’s Mi Casa, Navy Kenzo from Tanzania,  Togolese duo, Toofan and Ghana’s R2bees.

The hotly contested Best Hip Hop category sees MAMA nominations for Emtee and Riky Rick of South Africa, who’ll be going head to head against Nigeria’s Olamide and Ycee, and Kiff No Beat (Ivory Coast).

Voting for MAMA 2016 opens at 23:00 CAT on Wednesday 21 September at www.mtvbase.com and affiliated Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Fans can also vote for Best Group and Best International Act from 21 September by simply searching for “MTV MAMA” on Google, with each Google account allowed 5 votes per category per day. Voting in all categories closes on 19 October 2016.

MAMA 2016 NOMINATIONS:

Best Male

1. AKA (South Africa)

2. Black Coffee (South Africa)

3. Diamond (Tanzania)

4. Patoranking (Nigeria)

5. Wizkid (Nigeria)

Best Live

1. Cassper Nyovest (South Africa)

2. Eddy Kenzo (Uganda)

3. Flavour (Nigeria)

4. Mafikizolo (South Africa)

5. Stonebwoy (Ghana)

Best Group

1. Mi Casa (South Africa)

2. Navy Kenzo (Tanzania)

3. R2bees (Ghana)

4. Sauti Sol (Kenya)

5. Toofan (Togo)

Best Collaboration

1. AKA feat. Burna Boy, Khuli Chana & Yanga – “Baddest” (South Africa/Nigeria)

2. DJ Maphorisa feat. Wizkid & DJ Bucks – “Soweto Baby” ((South Africa/Nigeria)

3. Nasty C feat. Davido, Cassper – “Juice Back Remix” (Nigeria/South Africa)

4. Patoranking feat. Sarkodie – “No Kissing” (Nigeria/Ghana)

5. Sauti Sol feat. Alikiba – “Unconditionally Bae” (Kenya/Tanzania)

Best Hip Hop

1. Emtee (South Africa)

2. Kiff No Beat (Ivory Coast)

3. Olamide (Nigeria)

4. Riky Rick (South Africa)

5. Ycee (Nigeria)

Best Pop/Alternative

1. Desmond & The Tutus (South Africa)

2. LCNVL (South Africa)

3. Shekinah (South Africa) / Kyle Deutsch (South Africa)

4. Timo ODV (South Africa)

5. Tresor (DRC)

Best Lusophone

1. C4 Pedro (Angola)

2. NGA (Angola)

3. Lizha James (Mozambique)

4. Nelson Freitas (Netherlands/Cape Verde)

5. Preto Show (Angola)

Personality of the Year

1. Caster Semenya (South Africa)

2. Linda Ikeji (Nigeria)

3. Pearl Thusi (South Africa)

4. Pierre Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon)

5. Wizkid (Nigeria)

Best International

1. Adele (UK)

2. Beyoncé (USA)

3. Drake (Canada)

4. Future (USA)

5. Rihanna (Barbados)