Urban Music People (UMP) Awards, which were last held in 2020, will make a comeback this year, organisers Chitoliro Productionz said on Monday.
The awards will be held during the UMP Festival 2025, dubbed The Elevation, which runs from October 21 to 27 at Cape Maclear in Mangochi.
UMP spokesperson Marie Thom said they were happy to bring back the awards as part of celebrating the best of Malawian and African music talent.
“We stopped [organizing] the awards due to Covid and we also postponed the comeback last year because we wanted to put things in order and come back bigger and stronger,” Thom said.
She said, in the innovative week of the festival programme, they would dedicate a day to the music awards.
The UMP Music Awards has eight core categories which are Artist of the Year (male and female), Song of the Year, Album/EP of the Year, Best New Artist (male and female), Producer of the Year and Best Gospel Act.
The list also has four genre specific categories which are Best Hip Hop/Rap Act, Best Amapiano Act, Best Reggae/ Dancehall Act, Best Afrobeat/Fusion Act and Best Traditional/ Indigenous Music Act.
There are also five performance and visual excellence categories which include Best Collaboration, Best Music Video and Best Music Video Director.
The list also has eight African/Regional/International categories that include African Artist of the Year, Sadc [Southern African Development Community] Regional Artist of the Year and Global Impact Award for Malawian artists excelling internationally.
There are also five special recognitions which include Lifetime Achievement Award, Humanitarian Award, Best Band and Best Fans.
“We would like to thank Malawian music lovers for their patience. Nominations and voting process will be announced later but we, as Chitoliro, are proud to deliver the awards to the highest levels possible,” Thom said.
The UMP Music Awards have, over the years, recognised several artists and they include Kell Kay and Gwamba.
Meanwhile, Chitoliro Prodctionz has also said their sister awards—UMP Fashion Awards and UMP Media Awards—will be held on different occasions to strictly streamline the awards to their thematic focus.
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