SA’s Emtee, Saudi to join Gazza at Namibian awards

The event organisers revealed a list of nominees in March, with most categories dominated by young musicians.

No strangers to each other, the trio is expected to wow the crowd with ‘Abangan Bako’, a trap collaboration by Gazza featuring Emtee and Saudi. The song is off his 2016 Pumumu album.

Signed to South African independent record label Ambitiouz Entertainment, Emtee and Saudi are among the best of South Africa’s next generation of hip-hop artists making major waves on TV and radio. The two rappers fuse English and Zulu in their songs and should be a hit with Namibian hip hop fans come 28 April.

Emtee, who has bagged a number of awards, is expected to perform songs such as ‘Roll Up’, ‘Ngeke’ and ‘We Up’ while his countryman Saudi is likely to thrill fans with club hits such as ‘There She Go’ and ‘Ameni’.

The 40-year-old Gazza is one of Namibia’s most successful artists and has released 11 albums during a career spanning more than 20 years. Real name Lazarus Shiimi, Gazza’s music is defined by the kwaito, dancehall, reggae and hip hop genres. The event will also bear witness to Gazza’s influence on young and old alike when the 'Tanauka' hitmaker is honoured with the NAMA Special Award in recognition of his overall contribution to music.  

The event will be co-hosted by South African TV personality Bonang Matheba as well as Namibian radio and TV personalities Mappz Kapofi and Uejaa Kazondunge.

Voting for the NAMAs public categories is still under way and can be done by sending an SMS to 66262 with the relevant codes, which can be found on the awards’ official website. Voting can also be done online.