KORA 2003 ANALYSIS

The 6th of December 2003 marked the 9th Anniversary of the Kora awards. An occasion that awards all African men and women who display excellence in the creation of their music hypothetically in the previous year. The Koras were started in 1994 and first broadcast in 1996 to a global audience.

The Koras are named after a West African string instrument (a double harp) played by a musician called Jali who co-performs with a griot (story teller). This instrument is made of a calabash and strings of leather or nylon. Originating from the mandika people of West Africa (‘Senegambia’ which was the metropolis of the ancient Mali empire).

Mbilia Bel; Kora Nominee from Congo

The advantages of the Kora awards are:

1.They expose (promote) African musicians (traditional and popular) globally through these Television broadcast.

2.They unify the African musicians in a continent that is greatly devoid of Record labels and record distribution networks.

3.The koras are also a democratic platform where any African artist is allowed to submit his works depending on the standards that exist and are presented here. The voting procedure is also open to the Radio and Television public.

4.The Koras allow five African regions (north, south, east, west and central) to contest within a regional framework. The regional balance is useful in a sense that it allows some regions that have less developed music industries to offer their contribution.

5.The regions with developed music industries provide a standard that other regions may learn from in the production of the music audio and visual.

6.African popular music has been global since the trans Atlantic slave trade when African people were transported to Europe, the America’s and the Caribbean. The Kora’s recognition of the Diaspora is essential to this perception of contributions of these musical descendants of Africa.

The disadvantages of this are less:

1. The Koras accept videos as their priority. The cost of making a video in Africa is high and artists who are not well financed but have good music fail to make any impression. The emphasis on the video is to allow the viewing public to make judgments that are audiovisual.

2. People’s choice awards are not necessarily adequate means of aesthetic judgment but rather are governed by tastes and preferences. The works are sometimes not fully examined.
The Criteria for gaining entry into the koras are:

3. Any African artist who nominates him or her or is nominated by a legal entity (record company, publishing or media house) is eligible for the contest. for example post humously or otherwise. This nomination is sent to the Kora Awards offices before May 30 of that year and then the Kora pre-selection Committee examines it in June, at the end of which the list of nominees is issued. The Kora Jury examines the documents of these nominees the day before the ceremony itself. In addition, certain categories are subject to the vote of the radio and television public.
Note: - The video will remain the only document put before the jury, whence forth the importance of its audio and visual quality. The CDs will only be used for the promotion of the finals.
The year 2003 has twenty-seven categories:

1. Best Artist - Central Africa
2. Best Artist - North Africa
3. Best Artist - East Africa
4. Best Artist - West Africa
5. Best Artist - Southern Africa
6. Most Promising Male
7. Most Promising Female
8. Best Traditional Artists
9. Best African Group
10. Diaspora African American
11. Diaspora Europe Caribbean
12. Best African Arrangement
13. Best Video - African
14. Diaspora Latino American
15. Best African Artist - Male
16. Best African Artist - Female
17. Judges Special Awards
18. Best African Diaspora Artists - Female
19. Best African Diaspora Artists - Male
20. Revelation of the Year
21. Best Video - Diaspora
22. Best Musician of the Year
23. Best African Instrumentalist
24. Best African Gospel Female Artist
25. Best African Gospel Male Artist
26. Best African Gospel Group
27. Most Promising African Group

The above are broken down into two types of categories:

i) Categories examined by the pre-selection committee, then by the jury:

-BestArtistorGroup-NorthAfrica
-BestArtistorGroup-EastAfrica
-BestArtistorGroup-SouthernAfrica
-BestArtistorGroup-WestAfrica
-BestArtistorGroup-CentralAfrica
-BestArtistEurope-CaribbeanDiaspora
-BestArtistAfricanTraditional
-BestAfricanArranger
-BestAfricanVideo
-BestDiasporaVideo
-BestAfricanDiasporaFemale|
-BestAfricanDiasporaMale

ii) Categories subject to public verdict: All the prize winners of the regional categories:

-MostPromisingFemale
-MostPromisingMale
-BestAfricanGroup
-BestMusicianoftheyear
-JudgesSpecialAwards
-Revelationoftheyear
-2003BestAfricanMaleArtist
-2003BestAfricanFemaleArtist
-BestAfricanartist
-Best African group

iii) Categories determined by the Standing Committee of the Jury:

-LifeTimeAchievementAward
-African Legendary Award
This year has the following number of nominees per contesting countries:
South Africa leads with at least 20 nominations.
Kenya follows with at least 11 nominations.
Democratic Republic of Congo follows with at least 10 nominations.

Nigeria and Ivory Coast follow with at least 9 nominations each.
Cape Verde follows with at least 5 nominations.
Cameroon follows with at least 4 nominations.
Uganda and Benin follow with at least 3 nominations each.
Ethiopia, Zambia, Rwanda and Tanzania follow with at least 2 nominations each.

Comoros, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Togo and Burkina faso follow with at least 1 nomination each.
Whereas the nominations were purely out of submissions, they also reflect on the level of African popular musical activity in these countries. South Africa for example had record labels as early as 1940(Gallo for example) and started pressing records in 1950 when the LP (long playing record was cemented globally as a form of recording).

This period is long enough for a competitive popular music industry to take shape. The development of South African popular music also found its feet in the tumultuous past of this country where one way of manifesting black identity (and pride in this) was through the music. Kenya has observed a steady growth through the urban youth renewal of the industry in the 90s.Prior to this it always was the recording metropolis of East Africa as far back as the 40s.The very reason why Tanzania, Kenyan and even Congolese bands trekked there before discovering/affording Paris.

Mobutu Sese Sseko’s authenticity project offered space for the evolution of a distinct Congolese popular music industry though earlier contributions of the Colonial power Belgium has to be underscored. South Africa and Congo have greatly directed the course of musical events on the continent purely because their industries emerged coherently at an early stage of the last century and specifically because at a policy level they emphasised an authentic (home grown) popular culture.

Setting aside the regional aspect and how voting will perhaps be directed, the performance of individual artists will most likely hinge on their videos and track record as well as the presence of their work in the media for the last eighteen months. Whereas big names like Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Cesaria Evora and Mbilia Bel are foregone conclusions, new entrants into these awards and the scene are possible contenders.

Click here for the full list of Kora 2003 nominees and winners