The much-anticipated SoundCity MVP Award Festival was held on February 11, 2023, at the Eko Convention Center in Lagos.
Various artists performed at the event, including Arya Starr, Seyi Vibez, Ruger, Bad Boy Timz, Gyakie, and Black Sherif. And the show was anchored by the beautiful South African actress, Pearl Thusi.
Various artists from around Africa were present to receive their awards.
There are different categories, ranging from best hip-hop and best African dj to best male and female MVP, totaling about 15 categories. Below is the full list of winners in each category.
Kizz Daniel won the award for song of the year for his hit single “Buga.” Kizz Daniel released this hit single on May 4, 2022, and it did not only top numerous charts but instantly became people’s favorites. It has numerous users on Instagram and TikTok performing dance challenges to it; even the president of Liberia, George Weah, has a video of him dancing to the song.
Black Sheriff won the Soundcity MVP award for best hip-hop. The Ghanaian artist who released his first song on YouTube, “Cry for Me,” in 2019, officially entered the limelight in 2021 after he released his first hit single, “First Sermon.” Since then, his fan base has grown across Africa, and he has gone on to release other chart-toppin g singles such as the second sermon and 45. He has also had some great collaborations, which makes him very deserving of the award.
Rema won the SoundCity MVP award for digital artist of the year. Rema has indeed been having a great year. He currently has about 370 million views on his hit single, “Calm Down.” The remix of the song featuring Selena Gomez has over 400 million Spotify streams.which is the greatest by an African artist. He has about 12 different certifications for his songs from 12 different countries around the world.
DJ Maphosarisa won the Soundcity MVP award for African DJ of the year. The south African DJ, singer, songwriter, and producer has been making headlines in the music industry across Africa. He has lots of amazing songs in his discography and co-headlined the 2021 Made in Lagos tour with Wizkid.
Akon won the SoundCity MVP award for legend of the year. The Senegalese-American has been pursuing his music career since 2004 and has had a lot of worldwide hit singles since then. He has had about three nominations and a lot of songs on the Billboard charts. His legendary status is really based on how much he put into the African music industry, especially with collaborations to help speed up its international status, which is very amazing.
Costa Titch won the SoundCity MVP award for viewer’s choice for his song “Big Flexa.” The 27-year-old South African has started making waves for himself outside the shores of his nationality with his hit single, “Big Flexa .” The song currently has about 42 million views on YouTube and has been gaining millions on streaming platforms. The amapiano sound is popular around Africa, especially in clubs, and it is very befitting for the viewers’ choice award.
Ruger won the Sound City MVP award for best new act. The Jonzing World signee has been making a lot of waves in the music industry, with most of his songs last year being hits. His songs like “Dior,” “Girlfriend,” and “Asiwaju” have gained millions of streams and spent weeks in the charts both in Nigeria and some other countries. The best part is that he is only getting started in the music industry.
TG Omori won the SoundCity MVP award for best video for the song he directed, “Bandana.” TG Omori has done a lot of astonishing work on different music videos in the past couple of years, with Bandana just being one of them. The bandana video has generated about 57 million views on YouTube, and most of his other directed videos have followed a similar success path. Omori’s creativity and attention to detail are evident in the Bandana video, and the award is well earned.
FireBoy DML won the SoundCity MVP award for best pop for his song “Peru.” Fireboy has been making huge waves since his debut in the music industry, and his hit song Peru has done more. The hit single has done great on streaming platforms and has given him a lot of international recognition; the Best Pop Award was indeed well deserved.
Pheelz and Bnxn won the SoundCity MVP award for best collaboration for the song “finesse.” Pheelz spent the early stages of his career in the music industry making great music. Now that he has decided to make music, he has been doing so well at it. His collaboration with Bnxn was amazing and deserved the award.
Asake won the SoundCity MVP award for best male. Ever since Asake got into the limelight in 2021, it has been hit after hit. Most of his songs have topped charts, from “Sungba” to “Organise.” He has done really well in the past year and indeed deserves the award.
Tems won the SoundCity MVP award for best female. Tems’ vocals and creativity could hardly be matched. The singer just recently made huge waves by winning a Grammy, and this award for SoundCity MVP’s best female is definitely well deserved.
Burna Boy won the SoundCity MVP award for African artist of the year. The Grammy winner and self-acclaimed African giant has indeed made huge waves for African music. Having multiple Grammy nominations, winning one, and having feature songs in Hollywood movies like “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is a huge deal and deserves accolades.
Magicsticks won the SoundCity MVP award for producer of the year. The superstar producer has blessed us with a lot of good songs, especially with his work on Asakes’ numerous hit singles. He has indeed put in the work in the last couple of years, and he is indeed worthy of this award.
