The South African Music Awards (SAMA) are cleaning house and with that comes some major changes.
This is ahead of the 25th annual ceremony where Mzansi’s music greats will be honoured in 2019.
Among the changes, is a brand new category that the organisation feels is worth celebrating as well.
The Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA), who own the SAMAs, have announced that Reggae will now become a standalone category and will be known as Best Reggae Album.
Previously, this fell in the same category as RnB and Soul under the Best R&B/Soul/Reggae Album name which meant that only one genre out of the three would take the award annually.
According to the SAMAs, the category is “an acknowledgement of the burgeoning music genre which has witnessed an upswing in recent years”.
In addition to that, a few other categories and their names have been adjusted.
• Best R&B/Soul Album replaces Best R&B/Soul and Reggae Album
• Best Kwaito/Gqom/Amapiano Album is the new name for Best Kwaito Album
• Rest of Africa Award replaces Best African Artist. This category aims at recognising the achievement and impact that artists from the Rest of the African continent have had within the South African borders during the specified qualifying SAMA period. South African Artists are not allowed to enter this category.
“As the South African Music Awards, we pride ourselves in reflecting the changes that are happening within the South African music landscape. Entries are now open for all recording artists who have released an album which has a minimum of four songs between 01 February 2018 and 31 January 2019,” they continued in a statement.
Meanwhile RiSA CEO, Nhlanhla Sibisi has said that the awards music be an accurate reflection of what is happening in music.
“We remain responsive, agile and decisive when it comes to ensuring that the industry feels represented. These changes are welcomed and celebrated and we look forward to honouring worthy musicians come the time for nominations,” he said.
