ZIMA nominees list with a difference

Takudzwa Chihambakwe

THE nominees for the third edition of the PPC Zimbabwe Music Awards (ZIMA) comes with interesting aspects.

For instance, unlike in the previous years where attention has mainly been on the best male and female artiste categories, this year’s focus seems to be more on the collaboration of the year.

Roki’s collabo with Koffi Olomide and Rayvanny is among the top competing songs.

Hate or love it, “Patati Patata” got Zimbabwe buzzing for one reason or the other.

The track topped radio charts and brought Roki back in the game.

We then have gospel folks Janet Manyowa and Takesure Zamar with the track “Mutsvene”.

Their song, which was dropped last September, is loved by many.

This was all the more apparent when they performed it live for the first time on New Year’s Day.

Not to be outdone is Mai Titi and Baba Harare with “Rita”.

The energetic duo’s effort cannot be ignored.

Nox, Freeman HKD alongside Tyfah Guni come with “Unobvuma Here”, while DJ Zandimazi featuring Nhlanhla and Nutty O are armed with “Ngifuna Wena”.

Without doubt, this is a tightly contested category.

It will certainly create nightmares for the judges.

And then there is the weird category.

Africa and the world are celebrating amapiano, but ZIMA believes it is better to reward those doing Gqom and EDM!

What is baffling though is the two — Gqom and EDM — are basically one and the same, as they all fall under the electro-music family.

Clearly, there were more amapiano tracks in 2021 than the aforementioned genres.

Best RnB and Soul is another interesting category.

The past year was one of the best periods ever in terms of singers dropping projects despite the Covid-19 challenges.

The assumption among many is Drealnova and Bryan K decided not to enter their excellent projects otherwise they would have effortlessly made it to the nominees list.

That said, let us shift our focus to the act with the highest number of nominations, Nutty O.

Getting seven nominations was no fluke for the lad.

It is a result of many years of hard work and being unique all the time.

His music always sounded different from the “Bugatti” days.

But will he walk away with all the gongs?

Only time will tell.

However, many believe he will scoop the Best Dancehall, Best Album, Best Male, and Song of the Year awards.

Going forward, we challenge organisers of the awards to include a category that will see the most-streamed act being rewarded.

This will go a long way in encouraging consumers to start streaming music and help artistes generate meaningful revenue on the platform.

That is where the money is.

Hip-hop has been on the rise over the past two or so years
and the absence of the likes of Holy Ten on the nominees list is disturbing.

But, overall, the nominees list is well-balanced.