With hip-hop taking over the local music scene‚ Riky Rick – who is widely known for riding the new wave of kwaito in his music – believes now is the time for hip-hop artists to get the recognition they deserve at awards shows.

Speaking to TMG Entertainment‚ Riky – real name Rikhado Makhado — briefly took us through the evolution of hip-hop in South Africa and revealed where it is at the moment.

“This country has always been split up between house and kwaito. That’s how it’s always been‚” he told us at the SAMA nominees announcement on Thursday.

“What’s going on now is that kwaito and hip-hop have become the same thing‚ which means now it’s hip-hop and house‚ and other genres. The house cats [sic] are always the ones that rock the clubs and bring the excitement. While the hip-hop cats [sic] are the ones that bring in the swag‚ the lingo‚ the glitz and glam – that’s what we bring.”

The Family Values rapper‚ who is one of most nominated artists at this year’s SAMAs with four nods‚ added that due to how hip-hop in South Africa has grown‚ it should come as no surprise when the presence of hip-hop dominates at awards shows.

According to him‚ it’s always going to be like that from here on.

“Every award show from now is going to be like that. So don’t be surprised when you see a huge hip-hop presence at an awards show. It’s time for us to get all the awards‚” he said.

Nominated for Newcomer of the Year‚ Best Male Artist‚ Best Music Video of the Year and Best Rap Album‚ Riky expressed that he cares more about the Best Music Video award‚ given the effort he puts into making his videos.

“I don’t care about anything else‚ however‚ I know that I’ve had the best music videos and I just got my first music video nomination at a big awards show. So‚ I got to take it this time‚ because if I don’t‚ I’m going to start taking videos in front of cars‚ holding champagne‚ with girls dancing in bikinis.”