South Africa’s hip-hop artist, Emtee is expected to lead the line-up of performers for this year’s Urban Music People (UMP) in Malawi. The UMP Festival is a celebration of Malawi’s urban music, lifestyle and culture. The UMP Awards is a ceremony that recognizes Malawi’s exceptional urban music talent.
UMP Awards will be held on Saturday evening 18th November, 2017 at Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital city Lilongwe while UMP Festival will be held the following day, on 19th November at Blantyre Sports Club in the commercial hub Blantyre.
Artists to perform during the UMP Awards are: Lulu, Piksy, Bucci, Theo Thomson, Hazel Mak and Malinga.
For UMP Festival, the artists are: Sonye, Gwamba, Martse, Saint, Street Fame, Tuno, Charisma, Rita, Hilco, Episods, Pinky Ice, JJC and Suffix.
Ken ‘Zizwa’ Limwame the UMP Awards and Festival CEO, also Ndefeyo Entertainment Director, had this to say about the artists; “Both events have good combination of artists to give the audience a treat they always expect from UMP. We are confident they will deliver considering that some of them have performed for bigger audiences before, and for others it will be a challenge to cherish.”
UMP Awards and UMP Festival were unbundled following tremendous growth and support the two events have jointly achieved in the past two years.
For the awards, there will be 18 categories this year:
- Best Live Act
- Best Duo/Group
- Best Band
- Best Collaboration
- Best SADC Act
- Best Rap/Hip-Hop Act
- Best Reggae/Dance-hall Act
- Best R&B/Afro-Pop Act
- Best Gospel Act
- Best Female Act
- Best New Artist
- Song of the Year
- Album of the Year
- Music Video of the Year
- Video Director of the Year
- Producer of the Year
- Artist of the Year
- Lifetime Achievement
UMP Awards and Festival Timeline:
15th October–UMP Night: Nomination party, Fashion Show and Media Awards at Game Stores (Blantyre) underground car park.
18th November (evening) UMP Awards at BICC.
19th November (afternoon) UMP Festival at Blantyre Sports Club
Looks like it’s going to be a hell of an experience. Botswana and Malawi are competing for our attention by hosting events on the same day. Either way, we shall make it work. Malawi, see you in November. 🙂
@KikiMarli