Urban Music Party changes format
The Urban Music Party (UMP), a self-proclaimed celebration of Malawi’s urban music, lifestyle and culture, seems to be sailing with the winds of change.
In a latest development, UMP Festival organising team has announced that the 2017 UMP Awards edition will be held as a stand-alone event.
In a statement, the organisers have announced that this year’s event would be held in Lilongwe.
“Since inception, the UMP Awards have been held in Blantyre as part of the celebrated urban music gathering, UMP festival— the premier gathering of Malawi’s urban artists and fans. This year, however, the organising team led by the event’s producers Nde’feyo Entertainment has decided to unbundle the awards from the main festival to be a stand-alone event. This follows the tremendous growth and support the awards have achieved in the past two years.
“Following the change, the awards will be held as an Evening Red Carpet event in between November and December-, with additional four extra categories of Best Live Act; Best Duo/Group; Best Collaboration and Best SADC Act to the previous 13, making it 17 categories in total,” reads the statement.
However, the organisers have maintained 13 old categories, namely, 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 and Lifetime Achievement category.
“UMP Awards celebrate and promote excellence in Malawi’s urban music industry. It is therefore our goal to have it as a stand-alone event. We feel the UMP Awards have grown with new categories being added each year. And this year it will be a glamorous and a must-attend red carpet event,” comments Ken Zizwas Limwame, one of the event executive producers,” the statement adds.
Artists who have won UMP awards include Tay Grin (Music Video of the Year), Malinga Mafia (Album of the Year), Zani Challe (Best Female Act).
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