2009 UKAMA Winners

The UK Asian Music Awards went down last night, now let’s take a look at the winners.

Best Album went to Jay Sean, and I’m not going to argue with that. The only nominee that gave him competition was Reloaded by DJ H & Rags, but Jay’s been riding pretty high this year, especially after signing with Cash Money Records. I was disappointed he didn’t win at the MOBOs, so I’m happy he took this one home.

Best Male Act belonged to Jay Sean as well. Also nominated were Jazzy B, Jassi Sidhu, H-Dhami, and Raghav. Jazzy B and Jassi, while being quality artists, both released fairly average albums earlier in 2008. I think H-Dhami and Raghav were fair competition for Jay, but Raghav’s only riding on two singles from his next album (“My Kinda Girl” and “Humarahee”) and H-Dhami, while emerging onto the scene with a boom, doesn’t have anywhere near the fan base that Jay Sean has. Jay most certainly deserved it.

Best Female Act went to M.I.A., and out of the nominees, she definitely deserved it. After all the Slumdog Millionaire success, it wasn’t a surprise to anyone that she had the award in the bag. I was disappointed, however, that Panjabi Hit Squad’s Alyssia wasn’t nominated, with a voice as angelic as hers. Speaking of Panjabi Hit Squad, Ms. Scandalous must have been fuming over the nomination of Hard Kaur and not herself, especially after recently releasing an album, Aag.

Best Club DJ went to DJ Vix, and while he is an excellent DJ, the award clearly should’ve gone to Panjabi MC, especially after the recent release of his new album, Indian Timing.

Best Newcomer has got to be the award I’m most bitter about. Last year, H-Dhami received it and deserved it, but this year it went to Juz Dhami. I’m not criticizing him, but among the nominees were Holland based rapper AG Dolla and our next Raghav, Navin Kundra. AG Dolla released a mixtape called My Life in Rhymes a while back, with some pretty serious tunes, including “Arranged Marriage” and “Daydreamer.” He just gained a little more fame on the urban Desi scene on D-Boy’s track, “Loveless,” and his upcoming album Mr. Shah. He’s an extremely talented lyricist, especially on the love songs, and definitely deserved the award more than Juz. Navin Kundra was more deserving than Juz as well. “Love Thing” was a better tune than any on Juz Dhami’s entire album.

Best Producer went to Rishi Rich, who had some stiff competition from Aman Hayer and Panjabi MC among others. He was nominated for H-Dhami’s Sadke Jawa, and I think it’s fair that he got it. There was some pretty damn good production on that album, especially on tunes like “Mitrran Di Jaan” and “Akh Lad Gayee.”

Best International Act went to Miss Pooja, who’s pretty much a Bhangra album whore, figuratively speaking. Within the past two years she’s collaborated with just about every male in the Bhangra industry. She’s undeniably got some good songs, but her voice gets annoying after a while. This award should have gone to Atif Aslam, a much worthier nominee. Atif’s voice never gets annoying.

Best Radio Show went to Bobby Friction, and I’ve got no complaints there.

Best Alternative Act went to Nitin Sawhney, when Swami was in the same category. I like Nitin a lot, but let’s be honest, Swami deserved it. They brought serious tracks like “Electro Jugni” and “Hey Hey” on their last album, Equalize. The members of Swami are masters of music fusion, and they were clearly more deserving of the award.

Jay Sean wasn’t nominated for Best Act, but H-Dhami took this one, and rightly so. I’d call him the man of the year in the Bhangra world.

Best International Album went to Gurdas Mann. Trust me when I say I love Gurdas Mann and have immense respect for him as an artist, but once again this should’ve been Atif’s Award for Pehli Nazar.

Best Urban Act went to Jay Sean, who I don’t think had any real competition except for M.I.A. Bravo, Jay.

Best Video went to Jazzy B for “Rambo,” and I’ve got to agree. Rambo’s an average tune, but Jazzy B has always brought us interesting videos. You’ve got to remember “Dil Lutiya” and “Romeo,” or at least his outfits in them.

After cleaning up at the Oscars and winning a Filmfare Award, our boy A.R. Rahman got a UKAMA as well, and no one in the world could say he doesn't deserve it. Keep on truckin’ A.R.

It's safe to say that Jay Sean is our man of the year on the urban Desi scene, so let's hope he represents us well in America after being signed to Cash Money Records. A lot of awards here were undeserved, though. That's my opinion at least. What do you guys think?

My DesiHits brethren were at the ceremony and got some good interviews, check this out.