She is booked and busy, possibly one of the most played and streamed Amapiano artists in the country.
She recently toured Africa and visited some counties in Europe. But at this year’s South African Music Awards, her name was nowhere to be seen and she is not impressed.
Amapiano vocalist Dudu “Lady Du" Ngwenya says for her the SAMAs are “a big joke,” and she feels more acknowledged in other countries besides her own.
“What a joke!” she says.
“I have one of the most streamed songs in the country, but I wasn’t nominated and neither was I invited to attend or perform,” she says. “Also, What are the nomination criteria?” she questions.
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At the SAMAs, singer and producer Musa Keys won Record of the Year for Vula Mlomo featuring Nobantu Vilakazi and Sir Trill. “How does he win Record of the year, but the song is on 8 million streams. My song Woza was sitting on 19 million streams,” she says.
“I am not jealous or envious but need to know. When he was accepting his speech, he did not even mention the people who were featured in the song. My heart breaks for Nobantu who made the song a hit and what it is today,” she says.
“His acceptance speech was all about him as If he already knew that he would win.” Lady Du says she is concerned as Musa Keys' manager is also allegedly employed by the SAMAs.
“How does the creative director of the SAMAs also become the manager of someone who wins Record of the Year?” she asks.
Lady Du blames the high suicide rate in the music industry on the “mistreatment of artists”.
“Umsebenzi Wethu was nominated but none of the artists were invited. Yung Stunna, JazziQ, and all were not there. I was not there, and I wasn’t invited. Musa should be worried about why you won an award directed by his manager,” she says. The mom of one says that she is an independent artist and that is one of the factors causing a hindrance to her being nominated.
“Just because I am not signed to a major label means I suffer,” she says.
“These labels are the ones controlling the industry and until I am signed, I probably will not see a SAMA. But I will not work for a record label that will exploit me, “she says.
“There are many artists who deserve to perform at the awards and many who deserve nominations but did not get them,” she adds.
“It's obvious that these nominations are paid for.”
Risa Communications Manager and SAMAs spokesperson Lesley Mofokeng says the awards are entered by artists and record labels.
“We are open for three months. If artists do not enter, how will they be considered?” he says.
“In response to Song Of the Year, she is talking about her song being streamed. Record of the Year is short listened based on Radio Monitor which tracks songs based on how often songs are played on the radio. Radio Monitor then presents 20 songs that are most played. We don’t consider streaming at this point of SAMAs. We rely on Radio Monitor. The question would then be did she enter the SAMAs and how did you perform on Radio Monitor? If she was in the top 20 and didn’t make it, then that would need to be required,” Lesley adds.
Responding to Musa Keys’ manager being employed by the SAMAs, Lesley says he is employed by Clive Morris Productions who are contractors to the show.
“Musa's manager is a creative at CMP that was contracted to produce the SAMAs. He declared his relationship prior. We acknowledge this, accepted and approved it,” he says.
“There are auditions involved in this as well. When we talk about Record of the Year, the public votes, and we have the top 10, and they select number one. This is done with a auditors BWC. Musa’s manager has nothing to do with the voting system. There is no relationship between Musa Keys winning and the production. He does not work for the SAMA office nor is he involved in votes.”
There have been some complaints from viewers that awards have been purchased.
“It’s easy to say that the SAMAs are bought," he says.
“You can’t accuse people of such things, it’s careless and irresponsible. The SAMAs have auditors in place. Judges of the SAMAs do not meet each other. They put their votes online and they move on. There are NDAs involved. It's hard to see how the awards can be bought. If someone has received money for a vote, they need to step forward, so we can deal with the matter,” Lesley says.
