The ongoing MTN SWAMA Awards voting process gained momentum in the last couple of weeks, with an additional 1 560 votes. Best House Artist/Group maintained its top position, with 2 037 votes compared to 1 715 in the previous tally. In actual fact, the top five categories maintained their lead.
In addition to Best House Artist/Group; these were Best Word Smith/Poet, DJ of the Year, Best Comedian and Best Traditional/Maskandi/Mbhacanga. All but one of these categories were introduced this year.
Best Swati Artist based in the Diaspora, Best Afro-Pop Artist/Group and Best Jazz Artist/Group remained at the bottom of the list. A lot of improvement was noted in the Best Music Producer, Best Hip Hop Artist/Group and Best Music Producer categories.
The total number of votes as at the 3rd September 2018 were 9 907 compared to 8 347 on the 16th August 2018.
Again, we encourage fans to continue voting for their favourite artists by SMSing the Category and Name of the Artist (e.g. Artist of the Year, Dynamic Trio) to 6161. Voting closes on 30th September 2018.
TABLE SHOWING VOTES AS AT 3RD SEPTEMBER 2018
| CURRENT POSITION | CATEGORY | CURRENT NO: OF VOTES | PREVIOUS POSITION |
| 1 | Best House Artist/Group | 2037 | 1 |
| 2 | Best Word Smith/Poet | 1117 | 2 |
| 3 | DJ of the Year | 1090 | 3 |
| 4 | Best Comedian | 990 | 4 |
| 5 | Best Traditional/Maskandi/Mbhaqanga | 654 | 5 |
| 6 | Best Reggae Artist/Group | 556 | 6 |
| 7 | Best Newcomer | 468 | 7 |
| 8 | Best Music Producer | 353 | 10 |
| 9 | Best Hip-hop Artist/Group | 326 | 11 |
| 10 | Best Country Artist/Group | 323 | 8 |
| 11 | Best Kwaito Artist/Group | 291 | 9 |
| 12 | Best Gospel Artist/Group | 263 | 13 |
| 13 | Best Collaboration | 259 | 17 |
| 14 | Best Swati Soul Artist/Group | 254 | 12 |
| 15 | Female Artist of the Year | 212 | 14 |
| 16 | Artist of the Year | 172 | 15 |
| 17 | Song of the Year | 161 | 16 |
| 18 | Best R&B Artist/Group | 141 | 18 |
| 19 | Male Artist of the Year | 99 | 19 |
| 20 | Best Video of the Year | 47 | 23 |
| 21 | Best Jazz Artist/Group | 38 | 20 |
| 22 | Best Afro-Pop Artist/Group | 35 | 21 |
| 23 | Best Swati Artist based in the Diaspora | 21 | 22 |
THABILE MDLULI (SWAMA PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER)
ON BEHALF OF SWAMA EXECUTIVE
