On 30th November 2019, BritAsia TV held their annual Music Awards at The SSE Arena Wembley, now in its 9th year. More than 3,000 music fans attended this prestigious event, along with many VIP influencers and celebrities including Mist and Stefflon Don.
Headline performer, Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moosewala took to the stage and performed his hit songs. During the BritAsia TV Punjabi Film Awards 2019 earlier this year, Sidhu Moosewala and UK South Asian Producer Steel Banglez were introduced to one another, in which they conversated over a collaboration. They then went on to produce his recent track, 47, with mainstream rappers Mist and Stefflon Don, which entered the UK Charts at No.7. During the BritAsia TV Presents Kuflink Music Awards 2019, both Mist and Stefflon Don joined Sidhu Moosewala on stage, to perform the track, 47, live for the first time.
F1rstman, Juggy D, H Dhami, Raxtar and Mumzy Stranger opened the show with a performance of their collaboration track ‘Dance’. The evening also featured a debut London performance from Mickey Singh featuring Arjun, and performances from up and coming artist Celina Sharma and Indian rapper, Emiway Bantai.
Alongside breath taking performances, the night saw many music industry professionals in celebration, as fifteen awards were given out. Sidhu Moosewala was the big winner on the night, having picked up numerous awards, including Best Album, Best Lyricist, Best International Male Act and Track of the Year. F1rstman received the award for Best Breakthrough Act, as well as Best Collaboration alongside Juggy D, H Dhami, Raxstar and Mumzy Stranger. Best UK Female Act was awarded to RIKA for her many successful singles this year, including ‘Hold on to Me’, whilst Best International Female Act went to Jasmine Sandlas. Gurj Sidhu received the award for Best UK Male Act, whilst Best Non-Traditional Asian Act went to Steel Banglez, which was accepted on the night by his father, Mr Sandhu.
The award for Best DJ went to AJD, whilst Best Music video went to Yaar Chadeya- Sharry Mann. Navjit Buttar won Best Music Video Director, and Manni Sandhu received the award for Best Music Producer.
The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award was given to legendary Punjabi singer Balwinder Safri, who closed the show performing some of his most iconic hits, ‘Pao Bhangra’ and ‘Chan Mere Makhna’.
For Tony Shergill, CEO of BritAsia TV, 2020 is set to be the year that South Asian music breaks into the mainstream industry. Tony said: “We’ve had some fantastic successes over the past year, with Sidhu’s single entering the top ten and the Official Charts Company launching the world’s first Punjabi Chart Show in November.
From Ravi Shankar’s collaborations with the Beatles in the 1960s, Indian music has had a profound influence on pop music around the globe. That sense of collaboration continues to this day and what’s great to see from a song like 47 is that it doesn’t matter whether you’re from east London, a small village in the Punjab, inner city Birmingham or Jamaica, if you have talent you have an opportunity to make music.
“All the winners and nominees were very well deserved; it was great to present them all with awards for their hard work. The big winner, Sidhu Moosewala has had an amazing year, and put on a show stopping performance last night. We would like to thank all the winners and nominees and wish them all the success.”
Coverage of the awards can be found on BritAsia TV’s social media pages and will be televised on the channel on 25th December 2019.
