The 2016 MTV Base MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) were held last weekend in Johannesburg, South Africa. Voting via social media, fans chose winners from among the most popular artists across the continent. It should come as no surprise that Nigerian artists took home some of the choicest awards, including Best Female Artist (Yemi Alada) and Best Male Artist (Wizkid), but Kenya, Angola and South Africa were also represented. Check out the full list of winners below.
Best Female Artist: Yemi Alade (Nigeria)
Yemi won Best Female Artist for the second year in a row! She turned heads with her breakout hit "Johnny," and we're loving newer tunes like "Ferrari" as well. Watch Yemi give Nigeria's President Buhari a piece of her mind at the MAMA awards ceremony. "We are not only good in the kitchen, in the bedroom, and in the living room, we are good anywhere we want to be!"
Best Male Artist/ Best Artist: Wizkid (Nigeria)
Watch this delicious bootleg of Wizkid performing live in Johannesburg on Saturday. He did "Ojuelegba" with the Soweto Gospel Choir and "Soweto Baby" with DJ Maphorisa and DJ Bucks, taking Best Collaboration as well.
Best Group: Sauti Sol (Kenya)
We caught up with Kenyan supergroup Sauti Sol last week on their way through New York en route to South Africa the awards show, where they won Best Group! Check out our exclusive "Four Tracks" interview. By the way: Afropop is offering a free pair of tickets to see Sauti Sol at Highline Ballroom this Sun., Oct. 30, kicking off their fall U.S. tour. Email us at info@afropop.org for your chance to win. Here's a bit of Sauti Sol performing their collaboration "Africa" live with Yemi Alade on Saturday.
Best Breakthrough Act: Tekno (Nigeria)
This 23-year-old Nigerian artist has been at it for years, but he really made waves with a recent hits "Duro" and "Pana." We look forward to hearing more from him!
Best Live Act: Cassper Nyovest (South Africa)
Cassper Nyovest is a South African rapper and producer renowned for his live performances. Judge for yourself! Check out his tribute to kwaito legend "Doc Shebeleza" from 2014, and his recent video for "Monate So" featuring Doc and this clip of his set at MAMA2016. Also, Cassper recently got into it with American rapper Kanye West over who elevated the stage (literally) first. Our bets are on Cassper.
Best Francophone: Serge Beynaud (Ivory Coast)
The fact that Francophone artists are mostly limited to this category shows the Anglophone bias of MTV Base and their base, but also accurately represents one of largest remaining divisions in the globalization of African pop music under the banner of Afrobeats. What about Fally Ipupa? Togo's Toofan? Anyways, Serge Beynaud has kept the flame of coupé decalé burning bring with tracks like "Mawa Naya," and deserves all the shine!
On the other hand, the Francophone rapper Youssoupha, son of Congolese rumba legend Tabu Ley Rochereau, won Best Video for "Niquer Ma Vie:"
Best Lusophone: C4 Pedro (Angola)
Raised in Belgium, C4 Pedro is known for massive kizomba r&b slow jams like "Vamos Ficar Por Aqui."
In quick mention, Shekinah and Kyle Deutsch (South Africa) won for Best Alternative/Pop, Emtee (South Africa) won Best Hip-Hop for his best Future imitation. Drake won Best International Act (seems pretty obvious) in this crowd. Hugh Masekela got the honorable nod for the Legend Award.
Song of the Year: Patoranking ft. Wande Coal - "My Woman, My Everything" (Nigeria)
Good song, but this is a bit of a strange choice, since this song is more than a year old. Anyways.
Last but not least, the Listener's Choice Award went to Zimbabwean musician Jah Prayzah, known in Shona as “Musoja” or "soldier," because he often performs in a military uniform. Check out his new video, out last week:
Also, if the red carpet is your scene, you can watch the entire MTV Base stream on YouTube:
