New Year! New Categories! SAMAs Make Changes To Line Up Of Categories
A new year in music means changes in for the South African Music Awards (SAMAs), after years of deliberation Amapiano, Gqom and Kwaito get their own categories at the prestigious music awards.
New Year! New Categories! SAMAs Make Changes To Line Up Of Categories! 2020 was a standout year for amapiano, Gqom and Kwaito as the genres topped charts last year. The three genres were previously all put into one category but the Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA) has decided that the three will be separate categories as we head into a new year of music.
The CEO of the RiSA said that the decision was based on the growth in popularity of the genres as well as the number of entries that had been received for the Best Kwaito/Amapiano/Gqom category. This decision was made just in time as entries for the awards close on the 31st of January 2021.
The spokesperson for the SAMAs Lesley Mofokeng mentioned that the decision to separate the categories was made after thorough consultation with professionals in the industry. After the consultations they had seen that the consensus was for the categories to be split into three.
2020 was an exciting year for amapiano with hit after hit being released, the standout hits from 2020 are MFR Souls’ Amanikiniki featuring Major League DJz, Kamo Mphela & Bontle Smith, Reece Madlisa & Zuma’s Jazzidisciplies (Zlele) featuring Mr JazziQ & Busta 929. Also making waves in amapiano was all-rounder Focalistic, Daliwonga, Alfa Kat and Soa matrix & Soulful G with their hit song Uthando featuring Shaun 101.
Entries for the 2021 SAMAs are open for artists who released music between 1 February 2020 and 31 January 2021. Nominees will be announced at the end of March 2021.
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, this year’s SAMA awards will take place virtually.
