The South African Hip Hop Awards (commonly abbreviated as SAHHA) are an annual hip hop award ceremony, that celebrates achievements within the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n hip hop culture, established in 2012. The awards are presented annually, and are broadcast live on

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's stat ...

. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by artists, and some of the awards of more popular interest are presented in a televised ceremony.

History

The South African Hip Hop Awards (SAHHA) had their origin in 2012. It is presented by Ritual Media Group (RMG) and celebrates great achievements within the local hip hop culture by focusing on how the past has shaped the phenomenon called "SA Hip Hop". The very first ceremony was held at

Alex Theatre The Alex Theatre is a landmark located at 216 North Brand Boulevard in Glendale, California, United States. It is currently owned by the city of Glendale and operated by Glendale Arts. The theater’s capacity is 1,400. Architecture The Alex The ...

in Braamfontein,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

and then moved to the Gold Reef City Lyric Theatre, Johannesburg. The event was initially televised on

ETV ETV may stand for: Television * e.tv, a South African terrestrial television channel * Educational Television (Hong Kong), a television series * Educational television, the use of television in education * Enhanced TV, an interactive television ap ...

, but has since moved to

MTV Base MTV Base was a British pay television music channel from Paramount Networks UK & Australia that focused primarily on hip hop, R&B, grime, garage, reggae, funk, soul and dance music. It was launched as part of MTV's digital boutique of music ch ...

and to date is on

SABC 1 SABC 1 is a South African public television network operated by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which carries programming in English and Nguni. It was created in 1996, after the SABC restructured its television channels. SABC ...

. The show is known for breaking out South African Hip hop artists as most of the artists have won their first ever award at the SAHHAs such as

Cassper Nyovest Refiloe Maele Phoolo (born 16 December 1990), professionally known as Cassper Nyovest, is a South African rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, record producer and amateur boxer. Born and raised in Mahikeng, North West, he is regarded as one of t ...

iFani Mzayifani Mzondeleli Boltina, better known as iFani, (born 20 November 1985) is a South African Hip-Hop/Rap artist, MC and television presenter. Born in Mthatha and raised in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth, His first single was ‘Hola Hater’ ...

Emtee Mthembeni Ndevu, better known by his stage name Emtee (stylized as eMTee) is a South African rapper. He was born in Matatiele and grew up in Rockville, Soweto, where he was involved in talent shows. His career began at the age of 17 and his deb ...

Nasty C Nsikayesizwe David Junior Ngcobo (born 11 February 1997), known professionally as Nasty C, is a South African rapper, songwriter, and record producer. After releasing three mixtapes, one being "Undisputed" and two EPs, Ngcobo released his debu ...

Khuli Chana Khulane Morule (born August 27, 1982), better known by his stage name Khuli Chana, is a South African Motswako rapper. Early life and career Morule was born in the Mmabatho, North West Province and started rapping motswako at a young age. He w ...

Stogie T Tumi Molekane (born 16 August 1981) is a Tanzanian-born South African rapper and poet. He was the lead vocalist of Tumi and the Volume, that was officially disbanded in 2012. In 2016 Tumi relaunched himself as Stogie T and released an eponymo ...

, Reason and Miss Pru.

Awards

As of the 4th SAHHAs, in 2015, there are a total of thirty-one categories awarded.

Top Eight awards

These are the top nine award categories of the SAHHAs. * Album of the Year * Song of the Year * Best Freshman * Best Collaboration * Best Remix * Best Female * Best Male * Best Hip Hop Radio Show * Best Video

Categories

Top categories in the South African Hip Hop Awards are as follows: * Album of the Year is awarded 12 months in this case to the artist and the album production team published in the previous cycle. * Song of the Year is awarded to an artist with reference the previous cycle released album. * Best Freshman is awarded to an artist with reference to an album or mixtape released in the previous cycle. * Best Female is an award given to honor the outstanding achievements female artists have made in Hip hop every year * Best Male is an award given to honor the outstanding achievements of male artists in Hip hop every year. * Best Hip Hop Radio Show recognises excellence in South African hip hop radio shows. * Best International Band is an award given to honor the outstanding achievements of international bands from around the continent every year. * Best local Band is an award given to honor the outstanding achievements of local bands from around the country every year. * Best Collaboration honors rap collaborations, R&B collaborations or Rap/Sung collaborations. * Best Digital Sales awarded based on the total units sold, streamed, or shipped to retailers. These awards and their requirements are defined by the various certifying bodies representing the music industry in various countries and territories worldwide. * Best Remix is an honor presented to artists for quality remixed recordings. * Producer of the Year is awarded to producers for producing the most acclaimed song or album in the year under review * Video of the Year is given to the most popular music video released the same or previous year of the year the awards are handed out. The award is only given to the performing artist(s) or group in the video. The award is not handed out to the video directors and producers. * Mixtape of the Year is awarded for a mixtape , compilation , Album by DJ. * DJ of the Year is awarded to the DJ who has contributed immensely to South African Hip Hop in the past 12 months. * Lyricist of the Year is awarded to recognise a lyricist who has delivered an outstanding performance in a song. * Promoter of the Year is awarded to a promoter with most impactful Hip Hop events in the past 12 months.

Special Awards

* Hononary Award is a lifetime achievement award to individuals who have contributed in the development of South African Hip Hop. * Milestone Award is an achievement award for individuals who have accomplished within South African Hip Hop. * Most Valuable Player is awarded to the artist who has most acquired in monetary terms through achievements or endorsements in hip hop.

Eligibility and entry

As per the committee guidelines, only citizens and permanent residents of South Africa are eligible for a nomination. Entries are made online and a physical copy of the work is sent to the SAHHAs. Once a work is entered, reviewing sessions are held, involving the advisory board, to determine whether the work is entered in the correct category and with the exception of the Honorary award and Song of The Year award, using their expert knowledge and prior artist acknowledgements and achievements so that they can be judged on merit. The resulting lists of eligible entries are circulated to Voting Members, each of whom may vote to nominate in the general fields (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Freshman) and in no more than nine out of 30 other fields on their ballots. The five recordings that earn the most votes in each category become the nominees. An audit company then calculates the results on which the list of nominees is based and certifies that end results have been reached in accordance with aforementioned rules.

Trophy

Winners receive a statue called "The Pyramid". The statue shows printed Africa in the middle with two little statue artists climbing the pyramid and reaching for the stars.

Voting

Voting is based completely on judges’ scores in the following categories: *Album of the Year *Best Dance Crew *Best DJ *Best Freshman *Best International Brand *Best Local Brand *MVP/Hustler of the Year *Lyricist of the Year *Mixtape of the Year *Best Remix *Producer of the Year *Promoter of the Year Voting depends on the judges' scores and open votes (60% judges and 40% open) for the Top 5 categories: *Best Collaboration *Best Female *Best Male *Best Video *Song of the Year Voting is completely based on online votes for the following category: *Best Hip Hop Radio Show

Public voting

The winners of the following SAHHAs are not chosen by a panel of judges: * Best Collaboration * Best Remix * Best Female * Best Hip Hop Radio Show * Best Male * Best Video * Song of the Year

Judging criteria

Nominations are made in accordance to an album release and image of a band or an individual. Contenders are judged on performances and achievements made in the previous year between 15th September the previous year and 15th September the following year.

Ceremonies

The first awards ceremony was in 2012, there have been 11 editions to date.

Notable moments and controversies

AKA distancing himself from the event (2012)

At the 1st South African Hip hop Music Awards, hip hop artist AKA released a statement distancing himself from the event because of a lack of communication and mismanagement, because he had eight nominations he felt that he should have been asked to perform at the event something which was meant specifically to promote the genre he represented mostly. Due to those reasons, he withdrew himself from the awards and did not wish to participate.

K.O and Kid X excluded in the nominees for the SA Hip Hop Awards (2014)

In 2014, rapper K.O and Kid X had effectively been excluded from the nomination list of the 2014 South African Hip Hop Awards. It was thought that the duo were snubbed despite their single garnering one million views on YouTube and blazing local charts for weeks on end. However, the SA Hip hop awards organisers took to Twitter to set the record straight and said that Cashtime Life had asked to be excluded from the nominees and they had "kindly obliged".

Nasty C snubbing the SA Hip-Hop Awards (2017)

In 2017, rapper

did not submit his music for consideration in the 2017 South African Hip-Hop Awards as he believed the organisation did not properly acknowledge his success.

South African Hip Hop Awards honouring HHP, Ben Sharpa & ProKid (2018)

The 7th annual ceremony which took place on Wednesday, the 19th of December at The Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City, Johannesburg. Hip Hop masses that were in attendance were entertained with special tributes to Ben Sharpa, Pro Kid and HHP.

References

External links

South African Hip Hop Awards website
* {{Music awards Hip hop awards Awards established in 2012 Annual events in South Africa South African music awards