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All eyes are locked on the upcoming 29th edition of the SA Music Awards (Samas) next weekend. This followed the drama that was witnessed when the KwaZulu-Natal department of economic development, tourism and environmental affairs pulled the plug on the ceremony at the eleventh hour. The awards, which were meant to be held in KwaZulu-Natal will now be held in Gauteng.
While some feel that the ceremony should just be cancelled, citing possible chaos with less than two weeks to prepare for the event in Pretoria next week, some nominated artists are over the moon.
One such artist is producer, songwriter and singer S’Villa (Sicelo Ngwenya), who has been nominated for the first time in more than 10 years of being a musician.
READ: How the Samas have lost their sparkle
The artist, who has been nominated for music video of the year for his hit song Jehovah, featuring amapiano artist Zuma (Sabelo Zuma), said this nomination had "taken a lot of patience, hard work and prayer".
“I’m so excited about this nomination. It’s my first ever, and it’s taken so long for me to get here. I hope I’m inspiring someone out there who’s thinking of giving up,” said Ngwenya.
The music video which was released almost two years ago has now garnered over 26 million views.
Some of the challenges Ngwenya had to overcome as a musician, he said, included self-doubt, adding that it was a dream killer. Once he let go of the self-doubt, the Thula hit maker began touring the world performing in countries such as Kenya, the UK, Mozambique and Namibia.
A song he was featured on by three-time Grammy award-winning Jamaican band, Morgan Heritage and Uganda’s Eddy Kenzo has been considered for best global performance at the Grammy Awards.
“I honestly think I spoke that one into existence because the song sounds like a Grammy award-winning song, and I have been saying we’re going to win Grammys with this one. Winning a Grammy would mean so much for my career; it would be a huge milestone and that would catapult my career to greater heights,” said the excited artist.
According to Ngwenya, this year has been the best year for his career, and the Sama nomination and the Grammy consideration have sealed it for him.
READ: Awards with a difference brighten artists' futures
Another musician who feels the Samas still mean a lot to artists is Siyanda Makhanya, famously known as DJ Kabila. The Umtata DJ has been in the industry for over 20 years and recently shared a stage with DJ Black Coffee (Nkosinathi Maphumulo) at Madison Square Gardens in New York in the US.
He is nominated for best dance album for his 12-track album titled A New Dawn, which was released last year.
The Afro House DJ, who was forced to rely on a wheelchair after being involved in a car accident 24 years ago, said that, for a long time, he was sidelined and not appreciated enough in South Africa.
He also revealed that, until today, he still felt that, as a wheelchair-bound DJ, he was not accommodated enough in some of his workspaces.
Though the KwaZulu-Natal government pulled the plug on the awards, the Sama29 show goes on and will be hosted in collaboration with Africa Fest on 18 November 2023 at the SunBet Arena at Time Square in Pretoria. The show will be aired live on SABC1 from 8pm.
