Sho Madjozi and AKA score BET Award nominations
JOBURG – Sho Madjozi and AKA stand in line to bag Best New International Act and Best International Act awards at this year’s BET Awards.
Now in their 19th year, the BET Awards continue to sway the spotlight on the best artists, entertainers, and athletes across 20 categories and the road to the 2019 BET Awards is in full swing as the nominees have been revealed.
South Africa’s AKA and Sho Madjozi have scored nods in the Best International Act and Best New International Act categories respectively. The musicians are in line to represent not only South Africa but also the continent alongside Nigeria’s Burna Boy and Mr Eazi, Mali’s Aya Nakamura who were nominated in the Best International Act as well as Nigeria’s Teniola Apata who was nominated in the Best New International Act.
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The nomination was AKA’s fifth BET Award nod and Sho Madjozi’s first nomination. The nominations are selected by BET’s Voting Academy, which includes fans and revered groups of entertainment professionals.
“To go and represent my continent and my country among so many other artists it feels great that I’m the one that was chosen to represent my people, it’s always been a big honour to get nominated for the BET Awards,” AKA said.
First-time nominee, Sho Madjozi, said she was excited and happy to score the nomination. Best known for her Xitsonga lyrics and vibrant fashion, Sho Madjozi stands a chance of winning the award via votes as fans will be able to cast their vote for their favourite Best New International Act on BET.com and on both Twitter and Instagram using each artist’s designated hashtag.
In previous years, the Best International Act was a separate event to the main awards show. Monde Twala, vice president for BET, youth and music for VIMN Africa, said it was an amazing journey getting to a point where the category will be on the main stage.
“The important is really the acknowledgement that African talent is on par with the best in the world. Going forward, the category will be on the main stage which is a great honour for African talent to be ableto showcase what we have and who we have across the globe,” Twala said.
Internationally, the awards will simulcast for the first time on BET Africa (DStv channel 129) on Monday, 24 June at 2am with the repeat showing at 8 pm.
