SA, Nigeria top of the African pops

CREAM CRACKER: Cassper Nyovest at the 2014 Channel O Awards. He's been nominated three times for the 2015 MTV awards
Image by: TSHEPO KEKANA

The music battle lines have been drawn and the rands and the nairas lead the pack ... as expected.

Last night the nominees for the 2015 MTV Africa Music Awards were revealed and, as predicted, South African and Nigerian acts got the highest number of nominations across the 13 categories. This will see industry favourites like South Africa's AKA, Bucie, K.O and Mi Casa vying for bragging rights against Nigeria's Davido, Wizkid, Seyi Shay, P-Square and Flavour.

But if South Africa has any hope of dominating the awards ceremony all bets should be placed on hip-hop golden boy Cassper Nyovest, who got the nod in three categories.

The "Doc Shebeleza" rapper has been nominated for Best New Act, Best Hip-Hop Artist and Song of the Year. Fellow rapper AKA, whose real name is Kiernan Forbes, was nominated for Best Male and Best Collaboration.

Throughout this year, Nyovest, AKA and K.O have been dominating awards ceremonies, creating the perception that South Africa only has three music acts on offer.

This raises the question: Are they truly the best or are they the only players in the game?

5FM's DJ Fresh attributed this "vicious circle" to the global nature of the music industry, which saw established artists getting a head start and staying there because they had the marketing and support.

He said: "It's not that the industry is not growing, it's just the way the music industry works globally. The heavy hitters are in there and they stay in there. It's sad because there's a lot of talent that will never get heard. But at the same time, if a name is up in lights, it deserves to be there."

Last night's nomination event was a dress rehearsal for the awards ceremony that Durban will host on July 18.