Africa-Press – Eswatini. The SWAMA awards might not take place this year as the association says they lost their main sponsor Eswatini MTN but still compiling a new package.
After MTN pulled out on the prestigious Eswatini Music Association awards in May, the association said they were working on a new proposal.
With 30 days left for the year to be over, the awards have not been launched.
SWAMA President, Lutfo Dlamini said they were optimistic that something good was coming.
“We lost MTN our main sponsor for the awards.
We are now putting together a new package and negotiations are at an advanced stage but until we have signed we are unable to confirm anything. MTN never gave us a warning and companies work on budget cycles,” he said.
The Eswatini Music Association (SWAMA) is a professional non-profit organisation whose mission is to discover, unearth and promote local musicians and artists.
The awards started in 2017, with Sands winning the most prestigious, ‘Song of the Year’ award with his song dubbed ‘Tigi’. Since then, the awards have grown to become the country’s most anticipated music award event.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, they successfully hosted their awards digitally.
The SWAMA awards occur yearly around December where Eswatini artists are celebrated and honoured paying homage to their contribution to the growth of the arts industry in the kingdom.
They were made brighter by their former sponsor, MTN Eswatini.
Some of the artists that were once awarded, all said they were disappointed and unhappy.
“It feels like not celebrating your birthday or not having a good lunch with family on Christmas Day,” said the A2Z group who won Best New Comer in 2020.
They said winning an award helped an upcoming artist to find their spot in the industry.
“If you win an award it builds confidence and contributes to the hard work you did put throughout the year as these are meant to happen early. Awards are a way of celebrating hard work done by us, the artists,” said the duo.
Direktor Kwenu who won the ‘Best Music Video Director’ said not having the awards this years was a setback for the music industry.
“Music artists had that motivation to do more industry work because they knew at the end of the year, the big awards were coming and the whole world will get to recognise their talent and appreciate it even more.
This is also sad for the artists because they want to explore the continent and the world at large but how can you conquer the world if your own country doesn’t recognise your talent,” he said.
Kwenu also said the awards ceremony was the only event that ran for five years uninterrupted. “Every music industry in the world has its own awards where they recognise talent. It is only in Eswatini where we don’t have that and it’s a huge blow because the SWAMA Awards were recognised all over Africa,” he added.
Dope Deep who scooped the ‘Best Online Presentation’ during the COVID-19 era also said the awards helped event organizers book some of the best fine artists.
“The awards are for growth and recognition and it means event organisers will first look at winners or at least nominees when there’s a need to book an artist. It adds value to your profile and brand,” he said.
Street Cooper who won the ‘Best Urban Song’ in 2020 said he was hoping for a new sponsorship as there were new artists that deserved to be recognised.
“I know a couple of upcoming and also established artists who really worked hard this year and they deserved this token of appreciation but I guess it is what it is. I hope they will get a new sponsor and continue with the awards,” he said.
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