NAMA highlights 2018

The 2018 edition of the NAMAs delivered yet another spectacular event at Swakopmund last weekend, for the second time in the coastal town. The main sponsors and organisers, NBC and MTC, pulled out all the stops to ensure that the event indeed lived up to its billing. It was indeed a memorable night with some emotional and inspiring acceptance speeches that caused a social media uproar. There were stimulating performances, including a stirring memoriam to fallen musical heroes. Here are eight memorable moments from the NAMAs in case you missed it.



Acceptance speeches

Usually, the speeches by the winners are dedicated to their support systems, loved ones, and the fans — but this year many were shade throwing, and artists making the stage their personal battle field. Best Hip-Hop Artist of the Year KP Illest gave the usual heartfelt speech about unity and love when he got up to get his award. He urged the industry to rather criticise to build and empower instead of doing the opposite. It was also interesting to note that majority of the speeches were pro-government. Makes one think it was because of the presence of the First Citizen in the crowd or simply because we are approaching elections and it's only fair that the tender to make songs goes to the one with the winning speech. Another speech that will go down in history is that of the Best Music Video Artist of the Year, Gazza. The man was just so fired up that he is being labelled an over-emotional man on social media. He wasn't shy to admit that he was scared of not walking away with anything due to the noise around his entries but alas, victory was his. Gazza said it was all hard work as he had to fly to Miami twice and even worse, he had to beg the director Hype William whom Gazza wasn't shy of mentioning that he shot videos of A-lister Beyonce. In his speech, Gazza said although the noise was made by other artists, he does not make noise for them but for the public. Talk about shots fired.

Dancers

There was never a year where the general public and those who attended the event had positive remarks on the dancers. Usually its “they are not in sync, what are they doing? Is that the best they can do?” but this year, something definitely changed and we say thumbs up and keep it up NAMA organising committee. It could because there were a lot great minds, both local and international, as the organisers sought help from neighbouring countries including South Africa and Angola for dancers. Their costumes were on par and matched all the performances being danced to… it was simply amazing. Keep it up and congratulations to the dancers for pulling off the amazing choreographies.



Presenters

The NAMAs is Namibia's biggest glamorous night and the job of hosting the ceremony is an overwhelming one. Keeping the long ceremony lively while making people laugh and entertained isn't easy. This year we were in the company of the three Charlies or NAMA Angels and they did a great job. Odile Gertze, Esperance Luvindao and Tanya Daringo tried their best to keep the crowd on their toes, but Mavis Elias, an extra presenter, along with Daringo struggled a bit to keep their attention. Elias' speaking was louder than the microphone and it came off as if she was shouting. The rest did an excellent job and hosted the big event with sheer grace and elegance. The presenting team diverted from the typical male and female blend and switched things up this year with four females and one male. Joining the angels was Paul Da Prince. Paul Da Prince must be the coolest and most collected MC ever to grace the NAMA stage. It's simply impossible to bomb when you are that comfortable addressing a room full of suits and starlets and thousands of viewers watching at home. He was damn well swagged up, damn eloquent, damn funny and damn damning in all his appearances during the event. We definitely look forward to seeing you and the angels next year Paul.



Turnout

The NAMAs is usually a national event with people driving from all the corners of the country. This year however, very few attended by the look of how empty the hall was… more especially the general access area. The first time the NAMAs was held in Swakopmund the turn-up was close to 7 000. It could be because of the controversies that erupted this year with the nominees and the fact that the artists didn't really push in terms of getting the fans to vote and generally talk about awards. One can also easily blame the late marketing of the event that was not as impactful as the previous years. tjil sent out questions to the organising committee but there was no response before going to print. We really hope for a better turnout next year and the many more to come.



The return

Two massive groups made a grand comeback to the NAMAs being the Maszanga Family and PDK. The groups that have been missing in action over the past years have finally buried their hatchet with the NAMA brand. To make matters even more explosive, both groups won in the categories they were nominated in. Man, we are excited for the future of Namibian music. On social media the fans couldn't contain their happiness for the artists. Keep on keeping PDK and Maszanga Family.



The stage

If you have seen the show of Jay-Z and Kanye West titled Niggas in Paris and you were at the NAMAs you would have noticed some similarities. This is because the stage concept was inspired from the American musical show. The only difference is the towers which the award presenters appeared first before walking onto the main stage where lower. The whole stage design is to give the illusion that one is in space and hence the theme, 'Your NAMA World'. The LCD panels with P12 mash that are see-through were set up in such a way to act as the screen during award presenting. The panels could also move up and down and could be cleared out of the way during the performances. The stage set-up started on 16 April and the last finishing touches were added on the day of the event. In total, there were about 768 lights used on the stage alone. The cabling used altogether was 1 200 kilometres long. The Mikel Jes team really outdid themselves, hey. Keep up the innovative spirit and may we see it next year again.



The Bar

An exciting addition to the 2018 NAMAs that will most likely go down in history was the bar on the stage. The bar allowed artists and guests to sit and watch the whole show. The bar also served as a lounge interview area were presenters carried out their interviews, providing a comfortable setting to the whole show. This was also the area were Gazza famously accepted the fact that he was scared of not walking away with any award on the night and the very same place where South African Minnie Dlamini Jones and Lungile Radu were interviewed by Paul Da Prince and Mavis Braga.



Performances that rocked the night

Although the crowd was very rigid and quiet throughout the night, some artists managed to keep the energies high. Deal Done Records artists Monique English and Salvador opened up the night by serenading the crowd with their track 'Does She Know'. The two paired well together and performed a well put together song. Besides the local performances of the night of KP Illest, Bullet yaKaoko and PDK, one of the standout performances was of that of Distruction Boyz and Babes Wodumo, South African artists that make the currently trending on Gqom music. Even when the crew performed their hit song 'Omunye', the crowd was still seated and did not lift their chairs in honour of the song. KP Illest performed the track 'Okay Okay' which he won him the rap track of the year.

His performance did not do justice to the track as the performance was dull and short-lived. The dancers however did deliver a stellar performance and made it a point to stand out in terms outfits and choreography. PDK's performance was rather comical and it was much enjoyed by President Hage Geingob and First Lady Monica Geingos who were part of the crowd during the stellar performances.









June Shimuoshili & Tunohole Mungoba