Kora Awards
Encyclopedia
The Kora Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa
. Founded in 1994 by Ernest Adjovi, they are comparable to the American
Grammy Award
s in intent. The award is named after the kora
, an important West African plucked chordophone
.
The awards were last held in 2005, but it is set to relaunch in 2008.
Diaspora
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
. Founded in 1994 by Ernest Adjovi, they are comparable to the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s in intent. The award is named after the kora
Kora (instrument)
The kora is a 21-string bridge-harp used extensively in West Africa.-Description:A kora is built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator, and has a notched bridge. It does not fit well into any one category of western instruments and would have to be...
, an important West African plucked chordophone
Chordophone
A chordophone is any musical instrument that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification....
.
The awards were last held in 2005, but it is set to relaunch in 2008.
West Africa
- Best Traditional Artiste: King MensahKing MensahKing Mensah known as "The Golden Voice of Togo", is one of the most popular musical acts from Togo, West Africa. Though based in Lomé, he regularly records and promotes his albums in Paris, and has embarked on several world tours since 2005...
(TogoTogoTogo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
) - Best West African Female: Kamaldine (GuineaGuineaGuinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
) - Best West African Male: Kunle (NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
) - Best African Group: JJC&419 SquadJJCJJC a.ka Skillz, is most known in the UK as the producer and creator of the multi-platinum and award winning group Big Brovaz. He has also worked with the likes of Jamelia, Lemar, Jennifer Lopez, Liberty X and Genuwine....
(Nigeria) - Best African Video: Reggie RockstoneReggie RockstoneReggie Rockstone is a rapper of Ghanaian descent, born in Ghana but lived his early years in the United States. He has been living in Ghana continuously since he pioneered the Hip-Life movement in 1994. He pioneered the Hiplife art form and has played an important role in the development of this...
(GhanaGhanaGhana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
) - Best Gospel Group: Schekina (Ivory CoastCôte d'IvoireThe Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
) - Promising Male Artist: Madson Junior (Burkina FasoBurkina FasoBurkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
)
East Africa
- Best East African Female: Achieng AburaAchieng AburaAchieng Abura is a musician from Kenya, who performs Afro-jazz, Afro-fusion and gospel music.She debuted with a gospel album I Believe around 1990. Her following albums were Way Over Yonder and Sulwe. In 2002, when she had shifted to Afro-jazz, she released album Maisha. Later she released album...
(KenyaKenyaKenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
) - Best East African Male: Big Pin (Kenya)
- Best Gospel Male Artist: DNG (Kenya)
- Best East African Female: Tsedenia GebremarkosTsedenia GebremarkosTsedina Gebremarkos is an Ethiopian artist. She has released songs about HIV/AIDS, and met Brad Pitt when he was visiting the country. She shared the prize for best East African female at the Kora Awards in 2004 for the song "Ewedhalehu", with Achien'g Abura for her song "Toto Wangu."Tsedina has...
(EthiopiaEthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
)
Central Africa
- Best Central African Male: Félix Wazekwa (DRCDemocratic Republic of the CongoThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
) & WerrasonWerrasonWerrason, real name Noël Ngiama Makanda born December 25, 1965 in Moliombo, a small village in Northern Democratic Republic of Congo in Kikwit, Kwilu District is a musician from the Democratic Republic of Congo and also leader of the band Wenge Maison Mere . By age 8, Werrason was singing at his...
(DRC) - Best Male African Artist: WerrasonWerrasonWerrason, real name Noël Ngiama Makanda born December 25, 1965 in Moliombo, a small village in Northern Democratic Republic of Congo in Kikwit, Kwilu District is a musician from the Democratic Republic of Congo and also leader of the band Wenge Maison Mere . By age 8, Werrason was singing at his...
(DRC) - Promising Female Artist: Dinaly (CameroonCameroonCameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
)
Southern Africa
- Best S.A. Male Artist: Kabelo MabalaneKabelo MabalaneKabelo Mabalane known by his stage name as Kabelo or Bouga Luv is a South African kwaito musician, songwriter and actor. He was a member of the kwaito trio TKZee...
(South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
) - Best S.A. Female Artist: Thandiswa MazwaiThandiswa MazwaiThandiswa Mazwai is a multi-award winning South African musician, and is also the lead vocalist and songwriter of Bongo Maffin.-Early life:...
(South Africa) - Best African Group: MalaikaMalaikaMalaika, which means "angel" in Swahili , is the most famous love song in Kenyan pop music, as well as one of the most widely known Swahili songs...
(South Africa) - Best Gospel Female: Deborah FraserDeborah FraserDeborah Fraser is a South African gospel artist with a solo career spanning close to decade and more than a million units sold, cementing her status as a singer of incomparable power in the tradition of richly melodious, faith-based pleasant music. Born in 1966 in KwaMashu in the KwaZulu Natal...
(South Africa) - Best Traditional Group: Mahube (South Africa)
- Promising Female Artist: Swazi (South Africa)
- Best African Video: ZolaZola (entertainer)Bonginkosi Dlamini, aka Zola, is a South African musician, actor and presenter. He also presents Zola 7, a television show named for him, on SABC 1.-Cultural Influences:...
(South Africa) - Best Arrangement: Wanda Baloyi (South Africa)
- Revelation of the Year: MalaikaMalaika (Group)Malaika is a South African Afro-pop music group, which has been described as post-kwaito, post-mbaqanga and neo-soul, consisting of three young musicians: Bongani Nchanga and the late Jadu Ndaba from the previous band the Stouters and Matshediso Mholo , a former school teacher.Malaika toured...
(South Africa) - Best African Female: Thandiswa MazwaiThandiswa MazwaiThandiswa Mazwai is a multi-award winning South African musician, and is also the lead vocalist and songwriter of Bongo Maffin.-Early life:...
(South Africa)
DiasporaDiasporaA diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
- Best America African Diaspora: UsherUsher (entertainer)Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...
(U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) - Best Europe African Diaspora: KayshaKayshaKaysha, born Edward Mokolo Jr. on January 22, 1974 in Kinshasa, is a singer/rapper and producer that works on places like the West indies, South America and Africa. He was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo but immigrated to France with his parents at the age of seven...
(FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
)