AFRIMA 2018: East African acts show progress

Music In Africa spoke to AFRIMA judge and East Africa representative Tony Joett, who said that Ethiopian entries had the least foreign influences.

“From the submissions, Ethiopia’s popular music was very distinctly Ethiopian whereas Ugandan musicians tend to be more ragga and reggae,” Joett said. “Tanzania’s bongo flava genre, on the other hand, was distinctly Tanzanian sound. Something else to note was that Eastern African artists are nominated in almost all the continental categories.”

Tanzania’s Diamond Platnumz and Ethiopia’s Betty G are the top East African contenders with six nominations each. Diamond Platnumz is competing for Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Best Artist in African Contemporary, Best Artist in African Reggae, Ragga and Dancehall, Song Writer of the Year and Best Male Artist in Eastern Africa.

Betty G is up for Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Best Artist in African Jazz, Best Artist in African Rock, Revelation of the African Continent and Best Female Artist in Eastern Africa.

She said the nominations came as a surprise. “I feel so happy and overwhelmed because it’s a huge responsibility to represent your country on a continental level. I am grateful for everything but I am aware that this kind of accomplishment needs to keep happening. Whether I win or not, I view the recognition as a major milestone in my career and I expect to do more projects with musicians from other regions.”

Betty G said she would like to experiment with new pop sounds. “I have been exploring different styles such as jazz, rock and I would now like to try electronic music/ I believe the more unique the artist, the greater the chance for a nomination.”

The list also unveiled newcomers such as Ethiopia’s Yamiu Mola who is nominated in the Best Male Artist in Eastern Africa category and Ugandan Afro-soul/jazz singer Sandra Nankoma who is nominated in the Best Female Artist and Best Female Artist In Inspiration Music categories.

Nankoma also said the nomination was unexpected. “I never imagined that I stood a chance. A lot of things work against independent artists because we have few resources to produce good quality productions, and to really do good marketing for our music because that also requires money," she said.