Nominees for the 2015 Urban Music Party (UMP) Awards to take place on November 8 at the BAT Ground in Blantyre have been announced.
The awards are part of the UMP, a celebration of urban music and culture in Malawi organised by Nde’feyo Entertainment.
Five categories; Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Video of the Year, Producer of the Year and Best New Artist, are up for grabs.
Each category has four nominees who were shortlisted by a panel of judges James Gumbwa of Radio 2 plus music pundits Rex Chalenga and Kimpho Loka, with the involvement of the public at particular stages.
Nepman, Gwamba, Sangie and Janta are battling it out for the Artist of the Year Awards Sonye’s hit Tsika, Na Lero by Nepman, Divorce by Janta and Martse’s Mwano have been nominated for the Song of the Year.
In the video of the year category, nominees are Divorce by Janta, Ukudziwa Kale by Fredokiss feat Daredevilz, Ineyo wa lero by Gwamba feat Lulu and Zani Challe’s Ndiphunzitse.
Malawi’s queen of reggae Sangie is facing competition from Teddy, Black Nina and Tsar Leo in the Best New Artist while the brains behind many of the songs nominated; DJ Sley, Janta, Tricky Beatz and Stich Fray are garnering votes in the Producer of the Year category.
The event’s publicist Loka said: “UMP Awards nominations were open to artists and content considered to have entertained Malawi and kept the urban music industry ticking between the months of October 2014 and August 2015.
UMP Awards 2015 also have a special category namely Lifetime Achievers, which will be given to the late Mafunyeta and Criminal A.
