Artist of the Year finally announced

The continental Hip Hop World based in Nigeria finally announced the winner of the coveted African Artist of the year (non Nigerian category), almost a month after the awards took place.

In a telephone enquiry, Hip Hop World Nigeria told Informanté that the official winner is rapper Tinny Nii Addo Quaynor from Ghana. By the time of going to press, the verbal confirmation was not added to their official website.

The organisers who initially denied knowledge of The Dogg and which country he comes from despite nominating him in the same category; have been at pains to explain why the coveted category was not announced at the event ceremony that was held on May 16 in Abuja.

The awards in which The Dogg was nominated alongside Buffalo Souljah (Zimbabwe), Witness Mwaijaga (Tanzania) saw Tinny of Ghana bagging the coveted prize.

The Dogg wasn't impressed either. “They are disorganised. I didn't apply in the first place, they just nominated me. I don't think I will waste my time applying for such a disorganised event.”

The organisers earlier blamed woes on “logistics”. “We just announced the winner this week. It's Tinny from Ghana. That's all I have from inquiry desk,” Ruddy Abagebe, co-organiser of the event said.

The organisers' of the event, Smooth Promotions located at 4 Ogundana Street, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, have in the past said they had no idea what the reporter was talking about when asked about the circumstances that led to their failure to announce the results of Artist of the Year (non-Nigerian).

Still, she couldn't explain why nominated artists had to pay their air tickets to the event, contrary to international award standards, attributing this to “logistics” problems.

Her promise to relay the message to the awards' founder, Ayo Animashaun, and get back to Informanté never materialised.

According to requirements posted on their website, candidates competing for this category should be non-Nigerian, and that this category is a special award for an individual African artist with the most outstanding album and astonishing achievements in the year under review.