BASHING BOMU
Angry Amantle sings the blues
NOT one to shy away from speaking her mind, local songbird, Amantle Brown, has blasted the Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) for what she believes is a deliberate and disrespectful nomination snub.
The feisty songstress is adamant her hit, ‘Kgantele’, which features MMP Family’s MOD, deserved a place in the spotlight.
Voicing her disappointment to Voice Entertainment this week, Brown revealed she has been a member of BOMU since 2015 but now feels the union has become a laughing stock.
“You say you want to grow the industry and you have big names like Amantle Brown, which are current and relevant not appearing on your list of nominees? How?” demanded the ‘Black Mampatile’ star rhetorically.
Further buttressing her argument, the pint-sized musician added, “I don’t understand why it would be okay for them not to have a song which is known by everyone, young and old, a song which was trending on social media platform including Tik Tok challenges nominated. We are not going to grow this industry if people feel they are going to delete and replace as they wish.”
Failure to nominate her song is a dent on the BOMU brand, Amantle Brown has insisted.
“We can’t always have people who are not working hard receive accolades just because they are friends of management. BOMU doesn’t have a reputation right now because of all of these things; it now looks like a joke,” she maintained.
She further revealed that although the BOMU management reached out to her, she does not want any favours.
“I submitted my song online. So for them to say I did not submit is false whether their systems are working or not that is their baby to deal with,” she retorted.
Asked to comment on Brown’s apparent nomination snub, the award’s Co-ordinator, Seabelo Modibe, advised the songbird to visit the event’s rules and regulations.
“Awards have rules and they are clear. Artists don’t read rules and regulations. These are not the people’s choice awards where people listen to the song on radio and vote for it. Among other regulations, you needed to have released an EP in 2019 or 2020. Amantle only submitted one song, which means technically she was vetted out,” he explained.
Modibe further warned artists against addressing issues on both mainstream media and social media.
“Going to the media or social media to address issues doesn’t help. Amantle should write a formal letter so her concerns can be addressed,” advised Modibe.
“Maybe she stands a better chance with the YAMAS because they are based on what song was played on Radio, these (BOMU) are music recording awards, the whole package,” he concluded matter-of-factly.