We chat to iFani about his Sama nomination

Cape Town - We spoke to rapper iFani about his Sama nomination for Ayadelela in the category Best Music Video of The Year.

The music video, which features iFani crowd surfing through the streets of Cape Town and even busting out some Bollywood moves, has been nominated in the category for Best Music Video of The Year at the 22nd annual South African Music Awards. If you haven’t seen it yet, watch it here.

"We shot over four days in Cape Town and it was my biggest video. There were hundreds of people on set," says iFani. Dare we say thousands?

This isn’t the first time iFani has been nominated for a Sama. He bagged Best Rap Album for his debut I Believes In Me (2nd Quadrant) at the 20th Sama Awards 2014.

When asked if he feels a little extra pressure this year, he answered: "Not really, I see the nomination as a ‘well done’ or a pat on the back. It’s just the thank you I needed."

If he could choose one other muso nominated in his category to walk away with the award, he would pick Al Bairre and PH Fat’s Caviar Dreams. "I would love to work with the director of the video, Daniel Levi. I love his work." And he expressed how much admiration he has for the way he tells stories.

After achieving Gold status last year, (read the full story here) iFani decided to take a break from music for a while. He admits that things got "ugly", referring to the beef he had with AKA, and the controversy surrounding his triumph.

"I needed answers for myself," says iFani. He used the time to study, learn about the meaning of success as well as strengthening his spiritual life. This was around the time he shot the reality show, Clash of the choirs.

But iFani is back from his break, and just wrapped up shooting two new music videos back to back, for Stay and uMamo.

Unfortunately he won’t be performing at the Sama’s this time around, but left us with these words: "When you believe something then it will happen."

The South African Music Awards will take place at the Durban International Convention Centre on Saturday, 4 June 2016, and will be broadcast live on SABC1.

Congratulations iFani! We’re keeping our fingers crossed.