MTV Africa and MTV Base have announced the return of MTV Africa Music Awards ( MAMA), the continental flagship award, show in 2021.
The iconic MTV Base celebration, which showcases the ultimate in African culture, music, and creativity, will be held in a re-imagined virtual format in partnership with Uganda, The Pearl of Africa, on February 20, 2021.
The news was revealed via a recent virtual press conference broadcast from Johannesburg and Kampala by Monde Twala and Craig Paterson, senior vice presidents and general managers at Viacom CBS Networks Africa (VCNA), Godfrey Kiwanda, state minister for tourism, Ugandan Ministry of Tourism and Lilly Ajarova, CEO, Ugandan Tourism Board.
Tagged ‘ The MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021’, the music award will be broadcast on MTV Base ( Dstv Channel 322) and MTV ( Dstv Channel 130). The repeat show will also be aired on BET Africa, BET International and MTV channels across multiple continents as a one- hour Mama-themed MTV world stage feature.
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The ultimate celebration of local African and international talent and achievement, MAMA 2021, in partnership with Uganda, recognizes and rewards musicians, trailblazers and those who are shining light on the continent’s diverse talents and creativity by instilling positive impact on African music and youth culture over the previous year. The awards ceremony will feature vibrant performances from leading African and international artistes and will also showcase some of the biggest cross-genre and cross-border collaborations.
The event will celebrate African talent across 20 award categories, including Best Male, Best Female, Best Song,and Best Collaboration. The contribution of artistes from Portuguese and French-speaking Africa will also be recognized in the Best Lusophone and Best Francophone categories. Additional new categories included are; the MAMA Generation Change Award, Best Fan Base, Alone Together Best Lock-down Performance and Personality of the Year. The new categories seek to demonstrate MTV Base’s commitment to supporting the youth of Africa.
The MAMA Generation Change Award will recognize the inspiring, young changemakers of the continent who are tackling some of the world’s most challenging social problems. The Alone Together Best Lock-down Performance recognizes outstanding performances that took place virtually by celebrating artistes who took to streaming services to share their music and unite society during the unprecedented 2020 Lockdown. The category selection criteria is from October 1, 2019 to October 1, 2020. The nominees will be announced in December 2020 and music lovers will have their say by voting for their favourite stars online.
Also, the engaging question and answer discussion included; Bebe Cool, an accomplished Ugandan artiste, Sheebah Karungi, a highly skilled songstress and Nasty C, talented South African rapper.
Commenting on the awards, Monde Twala, senior vice president & general manager, VCNA, said, “It is an incredible honour to announce that the 17th MTV Africa Music Awards Kampala 2021 will be hosted by the vibrantly diverse Uganda, The Pearl of Africafor the first time on February 20, 2021. We are excited to bring this amazing showcase to audiences across the continent and globally with an innovatively re-imagined awards show and celebration. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, content production has embraced innovation as the new gold and we are excited to take Africa to the World and showcase its immense talent and culture as we stage the biggest music awards show on the continent.”
Also speaking at the virtual press conference, Godfrey Kiwanda, state minister for Tourism Uganda, commented, “It is an incredible achievement for Uganda to host the continent and International stakeholders for the MAMA Kampala 2021 for the first time. The awards are an extraordinary African cultural experience, and we understand the important role it plays in driving awareness, cross culture education and profiling the continent’s rich leisure tourism offerings on the international stage.”
“This is a wonderful opportunity for global audiences to experience Uganda’s magnificence, the profusion of brilliant life and diverse natural wildlife, and the vast scale of entertainment, events, art, culture, cuisine, history and shopping. We are also so proud to be able to highlight Uganda’s musical richness and give our talented artists the opportunity to showcase their immense talent, and the diversity of Uganda’s sounds, to music fans beyond this continent. This is indeed a momentous occasion for audiences to
