Brighton Zimidzi
Showbiz and Entertainment Reporter
Zimdancehall musician has announced that him and his team will going forward be snubbing award ceremonies after he felt hard-done by his failure to bag any award at this year’s National Arts Merit Award (NAMA).
The ‘Kamunamato Kemubhawa’ hit maker seems to be questioning why his efforts from 2022 did not earn him any gong at the recent awards.
“To people that are saying we did not submit to NAMA, we submitted in October 2022, and they received and confirmed. We are not sure what criteria is used with all Zimbabwean Awards, but we will not submit any more of our works to any award show”, said Qounfused on his Facebook page.
Before this year’s show piece Qounfuzed was shocked to see his name not on the nominations list. In response he took a swipe at NAMA organisers questioning the criteria they use in coming up with the final nominations list. His fans however reassured him saying he did not need validation from awards.
Even after he quit, Qounfuzed promised to keep releasing good music as he wont be held back and demotivated by award ceremonies
” To all our loyal fans, we just wanna say do not be moved by these award shows issues. They come and go. Throughout the years, we have been pushing music and topping charts but have not been acknowledged or recognised by any of our local dominant or prominent Zimbabwean awards organisers except for the Zimdancehall awards but that wont stop us from delivering good music to you. We will continue to do so with or without any award nominations. Do not be discouraged as the gift comes from God and no one can stop us”, added Qounfuzed.
In the year 2022, Jah Prayzah also announced that he quit submitting his works to any Zimbabwean award ceremonies.
Artists like Killer T have criticised the NAMA for their nominees and winner selection processes. Lately, people on social media have been alleging that Winky D was deliberately omitted from the People’s Choice Award this year, despite winning it consecutively in the last couple of years.
Speaking on Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN) earlier this month, NAMA executive director Napoleon Nyanhi responded to bias and corruption allegations:
“To kick off that conversation, I think we need to acknowledge that award shows, world over, always cause controversy and division of opinion because art in itself is an emotive issue. Everyone is emotional about it, from the artistes themselves to the fans, so when you come to the nominee’s announcement, you just have to know that there will be issues.”