Pic: Robin Kohl
Rise, Africa! Rise America… Miss Lira is in the house and she’s letting you know!! Man, how beautiful does she look and when she’s singing she’s just the bombdizzle! Lira, alongside many other big names, performed at President Obama’s Inaugural Ball last night.
There will be more pics and stories to come in the next couple of hours or so, so stay tuned.
You’ll remember earlier in the week I told you about the Dickies #847Strong campaign that I’m involved in. The peops at Dickies are looking to honour the guys with this campaign. All you need to do is share you ‘tough’ story i.e. what makes your job tough, but rewarding at the same time? What are the challenges you face and how to do overcome them or persist? All you need to do is upload your picture and story to the Dickies site. Visit the site:
Here’s what went down in my week. My day job is very demanding. There is a project that I’m working on, which requires a lot of time, energy and thought. A lot of what I’m doing is new territory for me and so while it might be challenging and I’ve had a tension headache for most of the week, the knowledge I’m acquiring can only further me. Whether it’ll lead me to my desired destination is the big question, but whatever skills attained now, can only help later on.
Now usually I have weeks where I’ll go to work at 7, leave at 4. Hit the gym, head home, shower, eat and head off to an event, a gig or I’ll be at home working on some other projects. This last week wasn’t as crazy as it usually is, but it’s still hectic nonetheless. So Monday is meeting day, Tuesday is just a bleh day usually but my week was particularly challenging from Wednesday. I woke up early to get to the gym on Wednesday morning. I used to be someone who could get up early and hit the gym, but as time goes by and the job and its growing responsibilities increase, sleep becomes a treasured luxury, so early gym sessions don’t happen as often anymore. Plus I get to work early so as to avoid traffic, but this morning was different. I had my work cut out for me, so I decided to get in an early gym session. What a great way to start the day I tell you. After a quick shower, breakfast and squizz on the social networks to see if I’d missed anything major (news wise), I put on my Dickies pants, a jersey and off I went to work. Let the games begin. Continue reading
One week to go until Lira’s Captured film and DVD concert hits music stores around the country. Check out the promo above and for more information on the lovely Lira go to:
She’ll be back in SA in a few weeks for a few gigs. I’ll be there, will you? 
If you know me, you’ll know I’m a big fan of South African superstar Lira. She is one of the most talented vocalists I have ever had the privilege of seeing perform. You might say that is quite the statement but it’s true. Every performance she gives is unique, fresh and it’s clear she puts her heart and soul into each of them.
One of my favourite Lira moments was from the South African Music Awards back in 2008. It was the pre-party at The Palace. Jazz icon Jimmy Dludlu was performing in the banquet area while the guests were hobnobbing and mingling. Just before the end of his set he surprised the multiple SAMA winner by calling her to the stage. She could have chosen to say no, nice chance but instead she rose to the challenge and blew us all away. It was such an incredible moment. She was totally caught off guard but when you love what you do, it isn’t much of an effort and that sentiment was proved to me when Lira performed.
During one of my interviews with Lira, I also asked her to for an impromptu performance. The song I asked her to perform was called Believer off her album Soul in Mind. Just when I thought she couldn’t do better than the time she performed in Sun City, she had to go and blow me away again. Without any warm-ups or rehearsals, Lira managed to do what a lot of artists can’t. Simply perfection. Check it out below:
She is one of the most in demand stars in SA. She’s gracing the covers of magazines, doing radio and TV interviews all over the place and she manages to do all of this with a genuine smile on her face. She remains one of the most humble, friendly and approachable people I know in the industry. Trust me, when you work in entertainment you see how egos are inflated, personalities change and people become rude and unapproachable. Not Lira. She is always willing to assist where she can; she is the consummate professional and a pleasure to deal with.
Audio interview with Lira:
Tonight the star will be walking the red carpet at the BET Awards in Los Angeles. She has been nominated in the Best African Act category alongside Sarkodi, Wizkid, Camp Mulla and Ice Prince. While the competition is stiff and we’re hoping for the best, Lira has made us (her fans) proud. I have a feeling that something big will come out of this tour and I can’t wait to see it all play out. She deserves all the success in the world and I hope she gets that Grammy she has always wanted.
So to Lira, may you continue to shine, wow us with your talents. May your success grow, soar and may your Grammy dreams become a reality sooner rather than later. Much love, respect and success to you.
The nominations for this year’s BET Awards have been announced. Kim’s BF otherwise known as Kanye West leads the pack with seven nominations. The lovely Beyoncé follows closely behind with an impressive six nods and her hubby Jay-Z has five nominations.
It’s great to see these three leading the pack, but I’m particularly happy with our lovely Lira. She has been nominated in the Best International Act: Africa category, alongside a whole host of rad artists like Wizkid, Ice Prince and Camp Mulla. Such rad news!!! Big up Africa, but a particular big up to Miss Lira. Love her work. The awards are set to take place on the 1st of July in Los Angeles, with Samual L. Jackson serving as host. Check out a full list of this year’s nominees below:
Best Female R&B Artist: Marsha Ambrosius, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Melanie Fiona, Rihanna
Best Male R&B Artist: Chris Brown, Bruno Mars, Miguel, Trey Songz, Usher
Best Group: Bad Meets Evil, Diddy-Dirty Money, Maybach Music Group, Mindless Behavior, The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West)
Best Collaboration: Beyonce f/ J. Cole – “Party,” Big Sean f/ Kanye West & Roscoe Dash – “Marvin & Chardonnay,” DJ Khaled f/ Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne – “I’m On One,” Drake f/ Lil Wayne & Tyga – “The Motto,” The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) f/ Otis Redding – “Otis,” Wale f/ Miguel – “Lotus Flower Bomb”
Best Male Hip Hop Artist: Big Sean, Drake, J. Cole, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy
Best Female Hip Hop Artist: Diamond, Nicki Minaj, Brianna Perry, Trina
Video of the Year: Beyonce – “Countdown,” Beyonce – “Love On Top,” The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) – “N***as in Paris,” The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) f/ Otis Redding – “Otis,” Usher – “Climax”
Video Director of the Year: Beyonce & Alan Ferguson, Benny Boom, Chris Brown & Godfrey Tabarez, Kanye West, Hype Williams
Best New Artist: A$AP Rocky, Big Sean, Diggy Future, Meek Mill
Best Gospel: Yolanda Adams, Kim Burrell, James Fortune & FIYA, Fred Hammond, Trin-I-Tee 5:7
Best Actress: Angela Bassett, Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson, Regina King, Zoe Saldana
Best Actor: Don Cheadle, Common, Idris Elba, Kevin Hart, Denzel Washington
YoungStars Award: Astro, Diggy, Jacob Latimore, Keke Palmer, Willow Smith
Best Movie: Good Deeds, Jumping The Broom, Laugh At My Pain, Red Tails, The Help
Subway Sportswoman of the Year: Skylar Diggins, Brittney Griner, Candace Parker, Serena Williams, Venus Williams
Subway Sportsman of the Year: Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Victor Cruz, Kevin Durant, LeBron James
Coca-Cola Viewer’s Choice Award: Beyonce – “Love On Top,” Chris Brown – “Turn Up the Music,” Drake f/ Lil Wayne & Tyga – “The Motto,” Mindless Behavior – “Hello,” The Throne (Jay-Z & Kanye West) f/ Otis Redding – “Otis,” Wale f/ Miguel – “Lotus Flower Bomb”
Centric Award: Common, Estelle, Robert Glasper, Robin Thicke, Tyrese
Best International Act: AfricaCamp Mulla (Kenya), Ice Prince (Nigeria), Lira (South Africa), Mokobe (Mali), Sarkodie (Ghana), Wizkid (Nigeria)
Best International Act: UK: Estelle, Labrinth, Emeli Sande, Sway, Wretch 32
The South African Music Awards are in full swing. Last year the awards were held at Montecasino in Johannesburg… EPIC FAIL! After a series of technical and production issues, this year’s organisers decided to move the awards back to their rightful home – that being Sun City. The festivities kicked off at the Sun City Ballroom with the industry awards. This part of the two-day event includes categories such as Best Producer, Best Engineer, Best Live DVD among others. It’s very unfortunate that this part of the programme wasn’t well attended because there were some really great performances plus the engineers and the producers who are just as responsible for bringing you the music as much as the artist is, were honoured too.
The industry awards kicked off with an address by Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile. He paid tribute to this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award candidates and then told guests how committed government is to growing the arts and culture industry in South Africa. You know how it goes, blah blah but let’s see. Comedians Tumi Morake and Tatz Nkonzo emceed the show. Before welcoming his co-host for the evening, Nkonzo opened with his own version of nominees MiCasa’s hit song These Streets. This was classic, hilarious. As soon as my videos are ready for upload, I’ll put them up here. The two then introduced the presenters and performers in true comic style, leaving guests in fits of laughter.
Besides the emcees and their ‘performances’ the audience got to see SAMA nominees Loyiso Bala and Idols star Lloyd Cele performing their song Ntando as well as a performance from Afrikaans singer Charlize Berg. Loyiso’s voice is sounding absolutely amazing. He really is one of the best vocalists I’ve heard and I have been a fan for almost a decade now, so hear how his voice has grown throughout the years is fantastic. Lloyd did a great job too! There were also performances from Afro-fusion band Stimela, Kabomo, Lira (love, love Miss Lira), Selaelo Selota, Solly Mahlangu and others, who all paid tribute to legends Vusi Mahlasela and Ray Phiri. On being awarded the Lifetime Achievement Awards, Phiri said “I’m grateful that I’ve been given an opportunity like this to sneak into your hearts. You’ve given me great memories.” He then joked about how to make it in the music business saying, “There’s one thing I know. Be friends with the SAMA, make friends with RISA, talk to the SABC and open your mind and be friends with Ray Phiri and everything will be fine”.
In addition to his Lifetime Achievement Award, Mahlasela has also been awarded the Martin Luther King Jr, César Chavez and Rosa Parks Visiting Professorship award from the University of Michigan in the US For his activism through music. Humbled by both awards, Mahlasela said, ‘Thank you, thank you, and thank you very please. It really gives me pleasure to receive this award on behalf of quite a lot of many who have really supported me up until now. Most difficult times, in the years that I started to be a professional musician. I wanted to go to school to study to be a doctor or a priest. Somebody told me that I was doing that through my music.” After their speeches, the two performed a beautiful and moving rendition of the smash hit Weeping. So I thought what would this post be without a bit of music… Here is the Most Played Song on South African Radio, it’s Liquideep’s Alone, one of my best tracks:
Stay tuned for more action from this year’s South African Music Awards, coming to you from Sun City.
SAMA fever is here. The festivities kicked off at the Sun City complex earlier this evening. While this part of the awards wasn’t televised, it definitely was spectacular. The guests were treated to performances from the legendary stars Vusi Mahlasela and Ray Phiri, as well as performances from Lira, Selaeto Selota, Loyiso Bala & LLoyd Cele among many others. I’ll bring you more on my thoughts from the evening tomorrow, but for now here is the list of winners:
Best Producer
Dan Roberts – Six Winters by Laurie Levine
Best Engineer
Johan van der Colff – Loliwe by Zahara
Best Video of the Year
Ryan Peimer – It’s Magic by The Parlotones
Best Live DVD
Simphiwe Dana – An Evening with Simphiwe Dana (Live in Concert)
Remix of the Year
DJ Sbu – Lengoma featuring Zahara
Lifetime Achievement Awards
Ray Phiri and Vusi Mahlasela
Best Selling True-Tone Download of the Year
Facebook by DJ Cleo
Best Selling Ring-Back-Tone of the Year
Facebook by DJ Cleo
Best Selling Full-Track Download of the Year
Loliwe by Zahara
Most Played Song on South African Radio in 2011
Alone by Liquiddeep
One week to go until the annual South African Music Awards takes place. The awards are back at their rightful home of Sun City this year and it’s going to be epic! I’ll be heading through on Sunday for the first night of awards. These will be for the technical and non-televised awards. While these winners wont be on your TV screens, they still deserve a shout out for the work they have contributed to the music industry in the past year, so I will be bringing you all that news.
As far as the Monday night, live broadcast goes things are still very under wraps. We don’t know who the hosts will be (Bonang and Trevor Gumbi would be my first choice) and who will be performing, but I’m pretty sure we can expect the likes of Zahara, Zakwe, MiCasa among others to take to the stage. There will be a big fashion show at Sun City too and obviously there will be loads of other news coming out of SA’s big musical night, so stay tuned. For now, check out my interview with Lira about her nominations:
More interviews to follow this week.
It’s all systems go for multiple award-winning singer Lira, who kicks off her Captured Tour in Johannesburg this weekend. The tour will see her travelling to six cities around the country,where she’ll be putting on a show like no other. Each stop of the tour will be recorded as part of her forthcoming DVD, due out next year. I got to chat to the star last week for DStv.com the Phakade singer said she was excited to get on the road.
“The first DVD was just one night for one show. Now I’m taking that concept and moving it around the country, which is a first for me.”
In addition to her capturing some of the behind the scenes action in what goes into putting on a show like this, the star says there’s an opportunity for her fans to share their experiences with her and others too. “I wanted to give them a platform for them to experience themselves at shows and for us to capture the whole experience, not just from my perspective as an artist, but also from a fan’s perspective.”
Once this tour is done, the Channel O Music Video Award nominee will be heading back to America, where she’ll be releasing her album to that market. In pursuit of music’s biggest accolade, the Grammy, the star explains how she plans on doing that, “We’re taking it one step at a time. We’re just going over to make waves and to catch as much attention and to be remembered.”
While cracking it in the biggest music market in the world is somewhat daunting, the Feel Good singer said she is up for the challenge, “My team and I are ready. I always say yes the journey is difficult, but the scenery, the experience is why you go on your journey. It’s beautiful and it’s worth it. Sometimes the destination isn’t everything, the journey’s incredible.”
Lira’s Captured Tour dates:
9 October – The Boardwalk Festive Lawn Area (PE)
22 October- Durban ICC (KZN)
26 October- Grand West Casino (CT)
29 October- Sun City (North West).
6 November- Free State National Botanical Gardens (Bloemfontein).
On the 29th of October, Lira will be recording her Sun City performance for the live DVD due out next year.
Be sure to visit www.misslira.com or Computicket to get your tickets for this not-to-be missed gig.
Freshlyground perform at Joburg Day
Lira performs at Joburg Day
