The 24th Annual South African Music Awards was held at Sun City, in the North West on 2 June 2018.[1] The list of nominees was announced on 19 April 2018 at Birchwood Hotel in Ekurhuleni. Mafikizolo, Mi Casa and Shekhinah each received a node of nomination Other artists with multiple nominations include Mobi Dixon, Distruction Boyz and Riky Rick. It was aired live on SABC 1 at 20:00 SAST (CAT). The show was hosted by Somizi Mhlongo, Dineo Ranaka and Mpho Popps.[2]
Shekhinah garnered the most awards with four while Mafikizolo came closest by claiming three awards. Steve Kekana, Mbongeni Ngema and Spoke H received the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of their career spanning over decades.
In June 2018, the Sama Awards organization announced few changes to various categories namely Best Rap Album, Best African Adult, Best Africa Artist and The Best Kwaito Album.[4]
Best Rap Album has changed to Best Hip Hop Album. The renaming allows for Hip Hop DJs to enter their albums in addition to Rap residing in this category.
Best African Adult has changed to Best African Adult Contemporary Album. The category does not carry language exclusion.
Best Africa Artist has changed to Best African Artist. This has also been made a special category so that South African artists can enter their works and compete for the bragging rights of being named the best artist in the African continent.
In April 2018, The Recording Industry of South Africa (RiSA) announced that the artist Sands' entry for Record of the Year, "Tigi", had been struck off the nominees' list because Sands was a citizen of Eswatini. Mobi Dixon's nomination for Best Remix of the song, "Lake by the Ocean", had also been disqualified because it was a remix of an international song which was a contravention of the SAMA rules. "Tigi" by Sands was replaced by "Love Me in the Dark", by Sketchy Bongo on the nominations list. In the place of "Lake by the Ocean" by Mobi Dixon was the remixed song, which "Mwanangu" by Jackie Queens and VeneiGrette, remixed by Enoo Napa.[5][6]
