On Saturday 30 January, Uganda’s leading artists as well as one lucky fan were honoured at the annual HiPipo Music Awards held at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
Among the big winners on the night, talented vocalist David Lutalo scooped the Artist of the Year as well as the Male Artist categories. Radio and Weasel (aka Goodlyfe Crew) won Best Group as well as Song of the Year (for ‘Juicy’), while Radio was also named Best Songwriter. Bebe Cool won two awards: Album of the Year and Best Reggae Song (for Go Mama and its title track respectively).
Sheebah Karungi emerged victorious in the Female Artist of the Year category as well as Video of the Year (for ‘Siri Zari’). Speaking after the receiving the awards, Karungi said her journey has been all about persistence. Recognizing Uganda’s thriving music video scene, Sasha Vybz was named Best Video Producer, partly for his work on the video for Sheebah’s winning ‘Siri Zari’.
Upcoming singer Winnie Nwagi was voted Breakthrough Artist, while the Lifetime Achievement Award was given to renowned choir master and composer Paul Ssaka. DJ Shiru won best DJ. In the regional East African categories, Tanzanian star Diamond Platnumz won two awards for his hit ‘Nana’. The public prize of the night went to lucky fan Igama Benedict, who drove home in a brand new car, a Peugeot 207 convertible.
Despite the great music on show, the night witnessed some controversy when two winning artists felt they had been nominated in the wrong categories. After winning the Best Zouk Song award (for ‘Memories’), A Pass and Lilian Mbabazi came on stage and gave a testimony about their winning song. It did not end there: A Pass cautioned the organizers to never nominate him in the Songwriters’ category as he is not one.
Get full list of winners here.
musicinafrica
