BY TAFADZWA KACHIKO SOUTH AFRICA-BASED rapper Alishias “Maskiri” Musimbe , who resurfaced last year with his sixth album, Come Back, is set to receive the Hip-Hop Honorary award at the Glam Awards show slated for March 28 at The Venue, in Avondale, Harare.
Glam Awards founder Albert Takudzwa Chigiya told NewsDay Life & Style that the controversial rapper, who came into limelight with 2002 hit songs Tambudzai and Zverudo (featuring Roki) could not go unrecognised in the development of local hip-hop music.
“Maskiri can’t be ignored when thinking about the development of local music in particular hip-hop. He undoubtedly influenced a lot of hip-hop musicians that emerged over the past years. He is a great lyricist who inspired the likes of Ti Gonzi. Looking at all those factors among others we saw it befitting to award him the Hip Hop Honorary award,” he said.
Maskiri, also known as Tateguru, won the Best Male Artiste award at the Zim Hip-Hop Awards in 2012 although he had some of his songs blacklisted from national radio due to sexually explicit lyrics.
Notable artistes on the Glam Award’s nomination list, which has 38 categories, are Takura, Ti Gonzi, Tammy Moyo, Ishan, Nasty C, Enzo Ishall, King 98, Flame B and Diego Trynno.
Chigiya lamented the few entries from female artistes whom he encouraged to occupy space in the male-dominated arts industry.
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“It was very displeasing to receive very few entries from females. This made it difficult to come up with female nominees in most categories. We had to rely on our team, bloggers, journalists, and researchers to identify the women. They should really start occupying the space in the male-dominated arts industry,” he said.
“The voting process starts on Friday till March 25 on our website.”
Chigiya said the Glam Awards, which took a break last year, were returning with a bang after a restructuring process.
“Last year, we didn’t necessarily take a break but we wanted to restructure the show and make sure that it serves the youth.
“We pushed it to this year to avoid bringing a half-baked event to the people but something which is worth even showcasing,” he said.