WANDE COAL, with a total of seven nominations, leads other artistes nominated for this year’s edition of Hip Hop World Awards. Wande Coal, who won the Next Rated category of the awards two years ago, really had a good time last year with his album entitled Mushin 2 Mo’ Hits, and it is no surprise to many that he is getting such recognition now.
Other music stars with a lot to hope for at the awards ceremony slated for May 29 this year include Kefee, Darey Art Alade, the duo of Nwachukwu Ozioko and Ali Obumneme, better known as Bracket, with five nominations.
It is that time of the year when the bubbles of excitement, long kept aside to germinate since last year, will begin to burst into full events of spectacle. The first indication of such fascinating times and scenarios was set in motion on Tuesday April 6, 2010, when organisers of the trend-setting award dedicated to excellence in music unveiled the list of nominees for this year.
The unveiling of the nominees’ list, as released by the screening committee of the Hip Hop Awards, was greeted with excitement by players, analysts and followers of the industry. The list, which contains the names and works of the big names currently making waves in the music industry, did not come with too many surprises. The list of nominees for the 2010 edition will, however, lead to a keen contest, the kind of which has not been witnessed in a while.
When the Hip Hop World Awards debuted with the maiden edition held in 2006 at the MUSON Centre in Lagos, it caused more than a few to raise eyebrows as a result of the depth of knowledge shown by organisers of the awards. But that was to be expected by people who have been in the game for a long time with the exciting magazine, Hiphopworld, and when the follow up editions of 2007 and 2008 came by, even turning out more glittering and better organised, the whole industry shook with the reality that a revolution has been set in motion.
Incidentally, “Revolution” was the title of the edition in 2006 and with each edition having a fantastic title with the last being “A Prize To Die For,” a fitting title for the 2009 edition of the Hip Hop World Awards, arguably the most organised and keenly contested awards in the country, and so far, largely unmatched as regards content, organisation and delivery..
For the 2010 edition, the key categories of the award is populated by the biggest names with the exclusion of a few stars like 9ice, DJ Zeez, Asa and D’Banj missing, primarily due to the fact that they did not release albums for the period under review, December 2008 to November 2009.
Dagrin, who has suddenly become a household name in recent times as a result of his well received album titled C.E.O, coupled with the biting power and clarity of his lyrics, is staking a claim for the Album of the Year award. Joining him in the quest for that same pedestal is Wande Coal who ruled especially for the major part of 2009 with his album, Mushin to Mo’ Hits. Darey Art Alade with the fantastic UN-DAREY-TED album containing the smash single, ‘Not the Girl’ is in reckoning while P-Square and Bracket complete the list with Danger and Least Expected respectively.
The same artistes nominated for the Album of the Year category dominate in the Artiste of the Year category with Dagrin, Wande Coal, Darey, Bracket all in contention, while Gabriel Amanyi popularly known as the ‘eccentric microphone tester,’ Terry G, taking up the final slot with his very popular street anthem, Ginajh Ur Swagger – Season 1.
The Song of the Year category, one of the most sought after as the popularity of songs are put to test has Bracket in with ‘Yori Yori,’ Kefee with ‘Kokoroko,’ ‘You Bad’ by Wande Coal, Terry G’s ‘Free Madness’ and ‘Alanta’ by Art Quake. Recording of the year throws into the fray ‘Keeper of My Dreams’ by Lara George,’ ‘Heaven Please’ by Timi Dakolo, P Squre’s ‘I Love U’ and ‘Strong Ting’ by Banky W.
Cobhams is once again in reckoning in the Producer of the Year category and he is up against Tee Y Mix, Don Jazzy, Sossick and Dokta Frabz for their various outputs from the refreshing production efforts while Jude Okoye (for ‘Danger’ video by P- Square), Wudi Awa (for ‘Kokoroko’ video by Kefee), Clarence Peters (for ‘Finest’ video by Knight House), Bobby Boulders (for ‘Ako Mi Ti Poju’ video by Naeto C) and Mex (for ‘Safe’ video by MI) are slugging it out in the Best Music Video category as the award goes to the director of the winning music video.
Darey, with a total of four individual nominations, is also in reckoning for best R ‘N’ B single with ‘No Stars’ while ‘Never Felt A Love’ by Femi Adeyinka, Banky W’s ‘Strong Ting,’ Djinee’s ‘Overkilling’ and ‘I Love U’ by P-Square are the others in contest in the rhythms and blues arena. Other categories include Best Pop Single, Best R ‘N’ B/Pop Album, Best Rap Single, Best Rap Album, Lyricist on the Roll, Best Collabo, Best Vocal Performance (Male) and Best Vocal Performance (Female). Other categories are Best Street Hop, Next Rated, Hip Hop World Revelation of the Year and Hip Hop World Hall of Fame, a non-competitive category.
9ice, whose new album is really beginning to catch up on the terrain and who was the biggest winner last term around, is one of the big stars missing due to the date of releasing his album around December 2009, while Asa also has no nominations due to the same reason, but MI has two to his credit thanks to an unreleased track titled ‘Somebody Wants To Die.’
Feelers from industry watchers are extremely positive that the screening committee of the awards has done a good job reflective of the strengths and weaknesses of the performers and efforts on display.
Who wins the Lyricist on the Roll category, would be awaited with eagerness owing to the fact that Mode 9 has won the prize in all the past editions of the awards.
Omawunmi, Next Rated last year, is up against Djinee, Ill Bliss, Kel and Wande Coal for the Revelation of the Year award.
GT ‘D’ Guitarman, who released his album titled The Truth late last year has one nomination, while Banky W, Terry G and Dagrin have one each with P-square with four nominations.
