Last weekend, I predicted that Sally would win the Best Afro Pop (Inclusive of Township Disco) category and PDK for Best Collaboration at the 10th and hopefully not the last edition of the Namibia Annual Music Awards. 
My score? I got 1 out of 2. My prediction for Best Afro Pop (Inclusive of Township Disco) was spot on. However, I got it wrong with the Best Collaboration category. Adora managed to beat PDK to the award with the song ‘Sim Di A’ featuring Jayden. But in my analysis last week... I did say that it was definitely between Adora and PDK. So, I was sorta kinda correct mos. 

I read an article by Tirie Masawi on unWrap.com criticising the awards for not tapping enough into the surprise element and embrace the unknown...calling it the NAMAs cliche with the view that so-called “big artists” like Gazza, Exit, King Tee Dee, D-Naff, Liz Ehlers, Big Ben etc, have automatic W’s. What a load of manure. Manure because the Namibia Annual Music Awards always had surprise wins since its inception and transition from the then Sanlam NBC Music Awards. There were infinite times where everyone was dead sure artist x would win, but artist z ends up winning. Ru’s Best Single win in 2011 was a surprise. Linda’s win in 2012 for Best RnB was a shocker. Mushe winning the Best Male Artist of the Year that same year was a massive surprise. Exit winning Most Disciplined Artist of the Year in 2013 was the biggest fallacy of the century! N.I.A winning Best Hip Hop in 2014 surprised many. Paradox winning Most Popular in 2015 was a surprise. StarDust winning Best Group that same year surprised many. Ann Singer winning Best Album of the Year in 2016 was a surprise. 

Monique English winning Female Artist of the Year in 2017 was probably the biggest surprise in the history of the NAMAs notwithstanding that...Doris winning Best House the same year was another shocker. D-Naff winning Best Reggae in 2018...surprise surprise. Liz Ehlers...Artist of the Year in 2019? WOW. Lindsey winning Best Gospel in 2019 with competing songs like Tswazis’s ‘Pray’ and D-Naff’s ‘We pray’...massive surprise. Top Cheri beat Gazza to the Best Album award the same year...massive surprise. The same article also claimed that PDK never won an award...which is inaccurate because PDK did win Best Soukous/Kwasa in 2018. To put it mildly and diplomatically...leave the critique work to me amae. Some of us have the historical appreciation for entertainment in Namibia, thus enjoy the credibility. We don’t suffer from short memory syndrome. Enough with the shade. 

 Moving into the second weekend of the virtual edition of the Namibia Annual Music Awards, its Best Single, Best Traditional, Best Gospel and Lifetime Achievement Award. Let’s start with Best Traditional with ‘Ali Ti Ti Ti Ti’ by Dna ft. Kamati Ekanda, ‘Aise Mamase’ by Erna Chimu ft. Samuel Katenge, and ‘Ti-E’ by Ou Billem, ‘Iteyiko’ by Torshlam ft. Buju Katyoko and ‘Omupembe’ by Yashe Tati Pii ft. Wapota. Straight off the bat..I believe this is between Torshlam and Erna Chimu. Both songs embody the Namibian way of life. Final stance? Torshlam will take it. Best Gospel with ‘Muhona’ by Effy ft. Healing Voices Choir, ‘Veertig Dae’ by Joharetha, ‘Alpha & Omega’ by Kaptein Tswazi ft. KK, ‘Yaweh’ by Maranatha and ‘Ngo Tjipandu’ by Ms Fabby. This is a two-horse race between Effy and Maranatha. I won’t lie... I don’t like Effy (this has to be said) because of his extreme homophobic views but his music is brilliant. Taking an old Namibian classic and modernising it? I call it the D-Naff recipe (if you know, you know). I think Effy’s got this one in the bag. Best Single with ‘Tonight’ by Centerpiece ft. Rush, ‘Dingililange’ by Dee’a ft. Sinny, ‘Magic’ by Teqla, ‘Moral Survival’ by William Jacobs and ‘Namibian Queen’ by Y’cliff. Personally, I would’ve really loved Teqla to win this but honestly, this award has Y’Cliff written all over it. 
Next weekend, it’s Best House & Best Producer, Best Kwaito and Best Reggae. 
Until the next loop, we say “GMTM”!
NSK is a professional MC. For bookings, email naobebsekind@gmail.com
@naobebsekind (Twitter)