We probably need to come to terms with the fact that when the South African Music Awards (Samas) take place, there will usually be something that goes wrong. It is a big show and someone, somewhere, is going to slip up.
This year, while the sound quality was incredible, the many cuts were really annoying and unprofessional. Sometimes they happened at a very unfortunate time, like during a performance or an announcement. It almost felt as if there was one cable that was loose or glued with gum.
The fact that these awards were held on a Sunday evening also meant that there were fewer people in attendance because Monday is a work day. Perhaps it did not screen on your TV, but there were a number of empty seats and in future the Sama body might want to go with the ceremony on a Saturday night so that people have the next day to travel back home. Many colleagues in the industry had to drive back on the the night of the ceremony so that they could get back to their daily Monday routines.
On the upside, however, much effort was put into the logistics of the showcase this time so we did not have the nightmarish ticket collection issues of the past. There were no queues at the collection points and the process took just seconds. When we arrived at the venue, again, excited ushers were quick to direct people to their allocated seats and the show started promptly. I mention these basic things because in the past, the Samas were notorious for failing to deliver something as basic as tickets, when even the nominees had to queue for hours in the hopes of getting their accreditation.
The selection of HHP as the host was met with skepticism, but the rapper did a sterling job. Between singing a number of local hit songs and telling jokes, he poignantly touched on the subject of xenophobia, using his Mozambican origins as an example of how migration works. Although Cassper Nyovest is his protege, you got the feeling that HHP is not part of any beef going on in hip hop circles as he congratulated all the parties involved.
The performances on the night were also a breath of fresh air thanks to the mixing of genres – something we do not see often enough. For example, young poet, Bothale Boikanyo (an SA’s Got Talent winner) teamed up with Grammy winner Wouter Kellerman and The Soil, while rock outfit Prime Circle did their thing with rapper Nyovest. It was all well done to the point where it felt seamless.
Overall, the results of the awards were quite intriguing as they were not what most people expected.
The night belonged to Beatenberg, who surprised everyone by walking away with six awards, including Album of the Year.
Nyovest has been cleaning up at every awards ceremony he has been invited to, but it was not the case this time around. He received five nods, but only walked away with one award. He made his disappointment evident in his acceptance speech, saying he didn’t know what category he’d won. In stark contrast, K.O, who won three of the five awards for which he was nominated, took his hat off to all the other competitors, which was a mark of maturity.
All the pre-awards night talk centred on the battle for dominance between K.O., Nyovest and AKA, and the resurgence of South African hip hop. But, like Flavor Flav of the legendary hip hop group Public Enemy once said: “Don’t believe the hype.”