MTV Networks Africa has finally announced the nominees for the 1st first ever MAMAs (MTV Africa Music Awards) at a glittering ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria. The contenders were revealed by Alex Okosi, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, MTV Networks Africa and Norman Moyo, Chief Marketing Officer, Zain Nigeria.

The nominees (nominations) were selected by an independent voting ‘academy’ of 150 music professionals and opinion formers from 30 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the nominations for the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain showcase the wealth of musical talent that Africa has to offer, and provide the ultimate vehicle for young Africans to salute the African and international artists that rock their worlds.

Click the links to check out the profiles of these musicians on Museke.com
Heading the nominee list with 5 ‘nods’ from the MAMA nominations academy are Nigerian R&B duo P-Square (Best Group, Best Live Performer, Best R&B, Best Video and Artist of the Year), closely followed by triple nominees D’Banj (Nigeria) and HHP (South Africa), who go head-to-head in the Best Male and Artist of the Year categories. Wahu (Kenya) and Asa (Nigeria) share the honours as the most nominated female artists with two nominations each for Wahu (Best New Act, Best Female) and Asa (Best Female, Artist of the Year).

The full list of nominees for the 2008 MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain are:

See the actual nominees here - the list has been released!

As excitement builds up for the first ever MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA), the folks at MTVBase Africa are giving fans a chance to be a part of the awards ceremony. MTVBase Africa has created a My Video Award which would be awarded for a viewer created video. Imagine being counted as a MAMA winner just like the likes of D'Banj, Ciara, Jabba T-Pain, and Dama do Bling on 22nd November! Those of you who have been spoofing African songs on Youtube and doing your own dances to these hits, here is your chance to get recognized for it.

You can see the other categories for the MAMAs on this website as well.
Here's the info below from the MAMA website, mama.mtvbase.com.

Nominees for the MAMAs are chosen as follows

All artists whose videos have been played on MTV base in previous 12 months are eligible (this amounts to several hundred artists from all over the continent)

MTV sends a list of all artists (see the pages of some of the artistes who will get nominated eventually listed on Museke.com) who are eligible to members of a voting 'academy' across Africa to ask them to vote for their favourite artists/tracks/videos etc. These votes are collated and feed into the nominations short list per category (5 nominees per category)

The nominations are released on or around 7 October and consumers make the final decision in all voting categories; voting closes on 18 November.

There will be 13 separate music award categories including

MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain Debuts November 2008 - Press release

Abuja, 6 August 2008: Pan African entertainment network, MTV Networks Africa, and international telecommunications giant, Zain, have joined forces to launch the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain , an exhilarating celebration of Africa’s music talent. MTV’s first ever Awards ceremony for the African continent, the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain honours the passion, creativity and artistry of the African music industry, showcasing the Continent’s brightest and best contemporary music and artists to a global audience.

The first, star-studded MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain music and entertainment extravaganza will take place at the Velodrome, Abuja, Nigeria on Saturday 22 November 2008 in front of thousands of musicians, celebrities, media and music fans. The MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain will take the form of a 2-hour TV spectacular, combining performances from top African and international stars with award presentations and an international superstar host.

We've been trying to bring you some Kwaheri lyrics but while we wait, you should get to know Paul Nunda, popularly known to music fans as Jua Cali.

Jua Cali is a genge/kapuka musician from Kenya. He formed Calif Records with producer Clemo in 2000 and the label has turned out to be one of the best in Kenya. Their original intention was to produce artistes but after some difficulty, Jua Cali took up the mic himself. Jua Cali has become a huge star and is even seen as one of the most influential Kenyans. he was also nominated for British Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards and the MTV Europe Music Awards, both in 2007.

Accra, 10 December 2007: Charismatic Ghanaian hip life star Tinny, a.k.a. Tinny Nii Addo Quaynor, is to have a brand new music video shot by sizzling hot US music video director Rachel Watanabe-Batton, with a special cameo appearance by French/Cameroonian turntable ‘royalty’, DJ Prince Charles.

The new video for Tinny’s track, ‘Incomplete’ will be shot on location in Accra by world-class director and producer Watanabe-Batton, as part of the MTV Making the Video with Shell initiative. Watanabe-Batton, who has worked with artists from Nas to Lil Jon, P Diddy, Timbaland, Will Smith, R.E.M and Oasis, will be assisted on the shoot by a group of Ghanaian music video directors participating in the MTV Making the Video with Shell video workshop, which took place in Accra, Ghana w/c 10 December.

As reported 4 months ago, MTVBase introduced a TRL radio show in Kenya by way of Capital FM. It was going to be a weekly 2-hour radio show makes its debut on Capital FM on 3 August 2007. Museke brings you the latest countdown, what music is hot and popular in Kenya these days.

This music includes music from all over the world, and like in many chart shows across Africa, American music dominates. The Kenyan musicians on the countdown are Nonini, Abbas, Jua Cali (who was in the running for the best African musician at the MTV Europe music Awards) and Amani. Here is the countdown of the top 20 songs.

• View all from Kalibrados
  Artistes Kalibrados
  Album Luanda
  Writer Kalibrados
  Language Portuguese
  Video URL http://youtube.com/watch?v=gI5hdPq69DA

Johannesburg, 5 November 2007: South African hip-hop artist Hip Hop Pantsula (HHP) aka the Hiphop Ninja has been selected to have a brand new music video shot by internationally acclaimed music video director Nick Quested, with a special cameo appearance by US R&B diva and double-Grammy Award nominee, Amerie.

Lyrics for Music and Lights at this link

The video, for HHP’s track, will be shot in Johannesburg this week by Quested as part of the MTV Making the Video with Shell initiative. Quested, who has made nearly 100 music videos for A-list stars such as P. Diddy, Nas, Common, Sting and Brandy, will be assisted on the shoot by South African video directors participating in the MTV Making the Video with Shell video workshop, which takes place in Johannesburg from 5 November.

After weeks of debating and voting for the MTV Best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards, we finally have a winner. D'Banj, da koko master from Nigeria, edged out Samini (Ghana), Jose Chameleone (Uganda), Hip Hop Pantsula (South Africa) and Jua Cali (Kenya) for the award at the ceremony held at OlympiaHalle in Munich, Germany on Novermber 1. He succeeds South Africa's Freshlyground in what may be the biggest award an African musician could win these days and countryman Tuface Idibia who won the maiden edition in 2005. Congratulations to Oladapo Oyebanjo aka Skibanj.