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Mthabisi Tshuma, Showbiz Correspondent

PROFICIENT seven-member Afro-pop band Ngoma iNgoma have expressed joy after landing their first award nomination in music circles.

The fast-rising group is nominated in two categories at the Skyz Metro FM Awards for Song of the Year and Afro Soul for their hit song, Amalobolo.

The group, which broke out this year, has shown that they mean business as they recently landed gigs in Harare and also got the opportunity of marketing themselves in South Africa at the Kwaguqa International Arts Festival.

In the Song of the Year category, they are battling it out with Msizkay’s Icherry Yami, Knowledge Nkiwane’s Umjolo and Asaph’s Vibe is Correct. For the Afro Soul category, they are facing competition from MJ Sings’s Phakade, Berita’s Ndiceli Kiss and Ngikonile by My Voice.

The group’s spokesperson, Blessing “Stot Bass” Sitotombe, said they are happy that their hard work has paid off.

“We’re very excited about the nomination as it shows that our brand is growing and that we’re on the right track. It’s every artiste’s dream to win an award and we hope we’ll win in all categories that we’ve been nominated in,” said Stot Bass.

He said this nomination has given them the encouragement to keep going as they are already working on a new album that will be released next year.

“We’re working on a new album whose tracks we’ll be sampling at the Gin and Jazz Festival at Smokehouse in the coming weeks.”

Writer and composer of the Amalobolo hit, Samuel Siwela said he was delighted with the nominations adding that they have also motivated him to work harder.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect the song to be nominated twice and worse for Song of the Year. This shows that it’s really quite a good song. To our fans, we’re promising more good music,” said Siwela.

Ngoma iNgoma released their debut self-titled album this year at the Bulawayo Theatre and Amalobolo became a crowd favourite with the nomination endorsing its popularity. The group also dazzled at this year’s Bulawayo Arts Awards. This led the group to embark on a citywide tour called “Taking the Music to the People” which made them appeal to more people after performances at Mapiko Cocktail Bar, The Place, New Alabama and BAC Leisure. – @mthabisi_mthire