{"id":4239,"date":"2026-10-05T09:05:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T09:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=4239"},"modified":"2026-10-05T09:05:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T09:05:39","slug":"rwandan-trio-enters-race-for-regional-continental-hipipo-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/05\/rwandan-trio-enters-race-for-regional-continental-hipipo-awards\/entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwandan trio enters race for regional, continental HiPipo awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Three Rwandan music stars \u2014 The Ben, Bruce Melodie and Element Eleeh \u2014 will compete against some of Africa\u2019s biggest names at the 2026 HiPipo Music Awards in Kampala next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The awards ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 13 at Kampala Serena Hotel, bringing together nominees from Uganda, Rwanda and other African countries across categories recognising artists and songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ben has three nominations, including East Africa Best Artist, where he will compete against Diamond Platnumz, Jose Chameleone, Bien-Aim\u00e9 Baraza and Ali Kiba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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His song \u201cInshallah\u201d is also nominated for East Africa Best Act\/Song, while he is among the contenders for Africa Number One alongside Burna Boy, Joshua Baraka, Diamond Platnumz, Rema, Tems, Ayra Starr, Tyla and Wizkid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bruce Melodie has one nomination for \u201cPom Pom,\u201d his collaboration with Tanzania\u2019s Diamond Platnumz and Joel Brown, in the Africa Best Act\/Song category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The song will compete against \u201cOnly God Can Save Me\u201d by Adekunle Gold and Davido, \u201cHeaven Baby\u201d by Ayra Starr and Zayn Malik, \u201cFinale\u201d by Bien-Aim\u00e9 Baraza and Ali Kiba, and \u201cDai Dai\u201d by Burna Boy and Shakira.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other nominees in the category include \u201cColorado\u201d by Ayra Starr, Johnny Drille and Young Jonn, \u201cBlessed and Alive\u201d by Rude Boy and Sarkodie, and \u201cAyayaah\u201d by Element Eleeh, Bien-Aim\u00e9 Baraza and Joshua Baraka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Element has two nominations. He is in contention for East Africa Best Artist and is also nominated for Africa Best Act\/Song for \u201cAyayaah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The producer and artist will face The Ben, Diamond Platnumz, Jose Chameleone, Bien-Aim\u00e9 Baraza and Ali Kiba in the East African artist category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Artiste of the Year category has a predominantly Ugandan lineup, including Ava Peace, Joshua Baraka, Stream Of Life Choir, Dax Vibez, Nandor Love UG, King Saha, Sheebah, Elijah Kitaka, Cindy Sanyu and Eddy Kenzo. Stream Of Life Choir won the category last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2026 HiPipo Music Awards will be held on Nov. 13 at Kampala Serena Hotel, with the winners to be announced across the various regional and continental categories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three Rwandan music stars \u2014 The Ben, Bruce Melodie and Element Eleeh \u2014 will compete against some of Africa\u2019s biggest names at the 2026 HiPipo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,28,35,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-entertainment","category-regional","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4244,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4239\/revisions\/4244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}