Urban World

Africa gets ready to take over Wembley

Celebrities and stars from Africa and the UK strutted down the red carpet at the African Centre, Covent Garden to kick-start the countdown to one of the most anticipated music award ceremony to be held at Wembley this year.

Hosted by ITN Newsreader Charlene White who announced stars such as Tinchy Stryder, Yvonne Chake Chake, K’Naan, Akon, and Lemar will all be present at the African Music Awards (AMAs), the launch also revealed that the Jacksons will be in town with Rebbie performing and Jermaine presenting the life time achievement award, which was previously won by his late brother, the King of Pop.

A night full of excitement filled with movers and shakers from the music industry the launch also saw star-performances from UK artist Chocolate Doll and Ghanaian artist Atongo Zimba.

Promising to be bigger and better than ever before showcasing traditional and contemporary African music at its best, the founder of AMAs Eric McKaiser Adu said: “ Music industry experts have tipped African music to explode into the UK market and the AMAs is there to provide a platform that will recognise their achievements annually.  We want to change the perception of African music as a niche into entertainment that will appeal to the masses.”

By JANELLE OSWALD