HiPipo Awards honour top Ugandan talent

Among the big winners on the night, talented vocalist David Lutalo scooped the Artist of the Year as well as the Male Artist categories. Radio and Weasel (aka Goodlyfe Crew) won Best Group as well as Song of the Year (for 'Juicy'), while Radio was also named Best Songwriter. Bebe Cool won two awards: Album of the Year and Best Reggae Song (for Go Mama and its title track respectively).

Sheebah Karungi emerged victorious in the Female Artist of the Year category as well as Video of the Year (for 'Siri Zari'). Speaking after the receiving the awards, Karungi said her journey has been all about persistence. Recognising Uganda's thriving music video scene, Sasha Vybz was named Best Video Producer, partly for his work on the video for Sheebah's winning 'Siri Zari'.

Upcoming singer Winnie Nwagi was voted Breakthrough Artist, while the Lifetime Achievement Award was given to renowned choir master and composer Paul Ssaka. DJ Shiru won best DJ. In the regional East African categories, Tanzanian star Diamond Platnumz won two awards for his hit 'Nana'. The public prize of the night went to lucky fan Igama Benedict, who drove home in a brand new car, a Peugeot 207 convertible.  

Despite the great music on show, the night witnessed some controversy when two winning artists felt they had been nominated in the wrong categories. After winning the Best Zouk Song award (for 'Memories'), A Pass and Lilian Mbabazi came on stage and gave a testimony about their winning song. It did not end there: A Pass cautioned the organizers to never nominate him in the Songwriters’ category as he is not one.

The full list of 2016 HiPipo winners is as follows:

• Artist Of The Year: David Lutalo
• Best Male Artist: David Lutalo
• Best Female Artist: Sheebah Karungi
• Best Music Group: Radio and Weasel
• Breakthrough Artist: Winnie Nwagi
• Best DJ: DJ Shiru
• Album Of The Year: Go Mama by Bebe Cool
• Video Of The Year: 'Siri Zari' by Sheebah
• Song Of The Year: 'Juicy' by Radio and Weasel
• Best Audio Producer: Dr Fizol
• Best Video Producer: Savy Films – Sasha Vybz
• Best Songwriter: Moses (Radio)
• Best Hip-Hop Song: 'Kigozi (Iko Hivi)' by Navio
• Best Rnb Song: 'Linda' by Rema and Chris Evans
• Ragga Dancehall Song: 'Friendly Match' by Ziza Bafana & Zanie Brown
• Best Reggae Song: 'Go Mama' by Bebe Cool
• Best Religious Song: 'Saum Kareem' by Swahaba Kasumba
• Best Band Song: 'Nkuze' by Maureen Nantume
• Best Folk (Kadongo Kamu): Akalulu by Saava Karim
• Best Zouk Song: 'Memories' by A Pass & Lillian Mbabazi
• Best Afrobeat Song: 'Mpulunguse' by Diana Nalubega
• Best Afro-pop Song: 'Tusasanya' by BigEye
• Best Regional Song: 'Go On' - Pine Avenue 5 All Stars and Barbi Jay (North)
• Most Active Fans Group: Gagamel Family
• East Africa Super Hit: 'Nana' by Diamond Platnumz (Tanzania)
• East Africa Best Video: 'Nana' by Diamond Platnumz Ft Mr Flavour (Tanzania)
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Paul Ssaka
• Video Trailblazer Award: Triplets/Gheto Kids
• MTN Most Downloaded CRBT: 'Mchuzi' by Rema Namakula