The FNB South African Music Awards; A Retrospective
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The FNB South African Music Awards; A Retrospective
A celebration of South Africa's rich and diverse musical culture; an
annual
tribute to South African musician's achievements; a yearly demonstration
of
the tradition of excellence within the South African musical industry -
the
FNB South African Music Awards have constantly striven to be all this
and
more.
This annual ceremony, the first of which was held in 1995, was created
by
the Association of the South African Music Industry (ASAMI) as a
national
event inclusive of all of South Africa's musical genres. The Awards
have
always determined to be sensitive and responsive to development and
growth
within the South African musical industry in it's many manifestations .
A
demonstration of this is the fact that in the ceremony's five years of
existence, the number of categories have swelled from the original 28 to
a
staggering 47 in 1999's ceremony.
The FNB SAMA committee's challenge was to create a ceremony that would
encapsulate all of South Africa's musical genres. The result was a
category line-up that ranged from traditional rhythms to urban,
contemporary sounds, and rewarded deserving musicians, songwriters,
producers, video directors, engineers as
well as individuals who had distinguished themselves over a lifetime.
The fact that the first FNB SAMA ceremony occurred a year after
South Africa's first free and democratic elections, in the midst of
the Rainbow Nation euphoria was not an insignificant factor in the
line- up of nominated artists and the structure and style of the
ceremony.
Finalists across the colour bar were entered into the relevant
categories,
with scant attention paid to anything except their musical genres. A
refreshingly irreverent blind eye was turned to previous taboos and holy
cows, with the focus being trained solely on the artists and their
achievements.
By the second year of the Awards, 1996, a number of changes were ushered
in, most of them dedicated to refining existing categories. The 'Best
Jazz Performance' category was divided into two - 'Best Contemporary'
and
'Best Traditional' Jazz albums. In equal fashion, the 'Best Dance
Performance' was divided into 'Best Contemporary' and 'Best Township'
Dance
Albums; and the 'Best Gospel Performance' was divided into 'Best
Traditional' and 'Best Contemporary' gospel albums. The M.O.R. (Middle
of
the Road) category was re-christened 'Best Adult Contemporary Album' and
divided into English and Afrikaans categories. The 'Best Pop
Performance'
category was expanded to encapsulate 'Township Pop' and 'Reggae'
Categories. Finally, a completely new category, 'Best Selling Album'
was
added to the awards.
The third year of the FNB SAMA's was an especially exciting one. One
development was the creation of a compilation CD of previous winners.
The
'Outstanding Contribution' and 'Lifetime Achievement' awards were
introduced, and awarded to West Nkosi and Joseph Tshabalala
respectively.
These awards were an especially meaningful addition to the awards;
South
Africa has an impressive musical legacy, and boasts a veritable army of
musicians who have made meaningful contributions to the development of
our
musical culture. An award ceremony celebrating South African musical
achievements would be remiss not to reward the substantial contributions
that so many South African artists had so selflessly made over the
years.
With this in mind, therefore, the 'Outstanding Contribution' and
'Lifetime
Achievement' were added to the line-up of the Awards.
The year 1998 witnessed an escalation of the non-stop momentum that had
become typical of the FNB SAMA's. Four new categories were added, the
'Best R&B' award, 'Best African Gospel' award, 'Best Selling African
Release' (an award granted to an African, non-South African musician,
and
scooped by Senegalese Ishmael Lo), and the 'Best Selling International
Release' (awarded to a non-African musician, and won by Canadian Celine
Dion). The number of finalists allowed in each category was increased
from three to five, a testament to the excellence of the submissions
received.
For the first time, the Song of the Year Award 'went public', where hit
songs of 1997 were played on radio, and listeners phoned and wrote in
their
choices. This development had an enormously positive effect on the
Award
Ceremony, significantly improving the public's involvement the Awards.
Instead of being passive spectators, the public, by being made judges,
become a meaningful part of the ceremony. The independent labels also
made
their presence felt in 1998's award ceremony with a host of exceptional
submissions, many of them strongly favoured contenders.
Developments on the South African music scene brought about the
inclusion
of South Africa's most vibrant urban musical genre, Kwaito. Kwaito was
included in the 5th year's ceremony, having 'paid it's dues' on the
musical
circuit. A genre that had emerged in the early 1990's, Kwaito was
widely
acknowledged by all to be a genre that was here to stay. It has given
rise
to some of South Africa's most gifted artists, and in it's short life,
has
experienced phenomenal development. Thus the categories 'Best Kwaito
Single' and 'Best Kwaito Album' were introduced to the Awards.
Additional changes in 1999's ceremony include the replacement of the
words
'Performance' to 'Album' in various categories, and 'Vocalist' with
'Artist' in the 'Best Female Vocalist' and 'Best Male Vocalist'
categories.
The 'Best Album Packaging' award will be only be awarded to an album
that
has been commercially available, thereby giving the public the
opportunity
to have seen the winning product. Finally, the calendar year for the
'Best
Selling Album' award has been increased by three months to more
accurately
reflect the manner in which albums are released. Often an album is
released on the market to coincide with Christmas festivities, but does
most of it's sales in the following year, thus the lengthening of the
period in which these submissions are judged.
An event that has made admirable strides in its five years of existence,
the FNB South African Music Awards have come to represent the brightest
and
the best of the South African musical scene. A record number of 530
submissions were received for this year's awards, a tangible endorsement
of
the ceremony from musicians and the music industry both. As the
ceremony
celebrates it's fifth year, everybody involved is committed to making it
the biggest and the best yet. Music is at the heart of who we South
Africans are as a people, and as a ceremony celebrating that, the FNB
South
African Music Awards will always have an indelible place on our cultural
calendar.
Issued by: Marang Setshwaelo, Essential Communications
011-881-9251 (t)
011-881-9218 (f)
083-453-1772, Mar...@esential.co.za
On Behalf of: The FNB South African Music Awards
--
Arts & Culture Trust of the President Award 1998
Electronic Media of the Year
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