There's some fresh excitement in the Mobile hip-hop community after a dominant showing in the Alabama Music Awards, held over the weekend in Birmingham.
Mobile-area winners included DJ Rodski (hottest club DJ), WBLX-FM 92.9 (hottest radio station, plus hottest email radio DJ show for Nina Rawz and hottest male radio DJ show or Nick@Nite), The Prancing Elites (hottest dance crew), Spank Lee (hottest male hip-hop/rap artist and hottest male mixtape) and Bianca Clarke (hottest female mixtape and hottest breakout artist).
"I think Mobile took home 20 of the 31 awards they had to give away," said Mobile-based producer Ronald "Ron G" Suggs Jr., who attended the awards ceremony held Sunday night at the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame's Carver Theatre.
For some in Mobile, it was Suggs' jubilant tweets that brought first word of how well the Lower Alabama contingent was doing. "I think we took home some of everything," he said.
Organizer Shelley Roebuck, CEO of Power Moves PR, said the independent awards show was co-founded by herself and promoter Jermaine "Zeus" Garrett of Zeus Entertainment. Winners were determined by a statewide round of online voting, and Mobile stood out for the level of support its nominees received, she said.
"Mobile has a lot of talent," Roebuck said. "The core of who was excited was Mobile."
"They put together this overwhelming list that was very controversial to start with," LaTausha Taylor, president of Mobile-based On Point Entertainment, said of the process. Some weren't sure what to make of the ballot: It spanned a lot of categories (ranging from rap performers and producers to graphic designers, promotion teams, gospel acts and more) and included a lot of nominees, Taylor said, which raised some eyebrows.
But Taylor described the awards show as "an awesome experience," even though two On Point artists nominated in the "hardest grinding" category didn't win. "It actually turned out well," she said. She said that like Suggs, she ended up collecting a number of trophies for Mobile artists who weren't on the scene in Birmingham.
Suggs said there had been some discussion among Mobile producers about the awards, but he didn't think there had been an organized "get out the vote" effort locally. Taylor agreed, saying "the winners were actually picked by the people."
The full list of winners:
Hottest Club DJ: DJ Rodski
Hottest Mixtape: DJ Fullmoon
Male Model of the Year: Brandon Westbrook
Female Model of the Year: Erica "E Class" Ward
Most Slept-on Male DJ: DJ Ice Cold
Most Slept-on Female DJ: DJ Chocolate
Independent Label of the Year: Daydream Music Group
Hottest Movement: Dem Freshmen
Hottest Radio Station: 93 BLX 92.9
Hottest Female Radio DJ Show: Nina Rawz
Hottest Male Radio DJ Show: Nick at Nite
Hottest Comedian: Too Loose
Hottest Breakout Artist: Black Montana and Bianca Clarke (tie)
Hottest Group: Dirty Boyz
Hottest Dance Crew: Prancing Elites
Hottest Video Director: Rainman
Hottest Radio Mixshow DJ: DJ Frank White
Club Host of the Year: Head One
Hottest Female R&B Artist: Erica Washington
Hottest Male R&B Artist: Ruben Studdard
Most Slept On Female HipHop/Rap Artist: Kandy Redd
Most Slept On Male HipHop/Rap Artist: Dynomite Kid
Hottest Female HipHop/Rap Artist: Ms. Sincere
Hottest Male HipHop/Rap Artist: Spank Lee
Hardest Grinding Female Artist: Jessica Rabbit
Hardest Grinding Male Artist: Dirty Boyz
Hottest Female Mixtape: Bianca Clarke
Hottest Male Mixtape: Spank Lee
Next Female to Blow Up: Taylor Semone
Next Male to Blow Up: Jackie Chan
Hottest Producer: Big Dave (Arsonist Pro Team)
Hottest Promotion Team: Insomnia Squad
Hottest Graphic Designer: Rico Knight
Hottest Magazine: Real Talk Magazine
Hottest Night Club: Martinis
Hottest Adult Night Club: The Palace
Hottest Female Gospel Artist: Diamond Washington
Hottest Male Gospel Artist: Big Profit
Best Gospel Choir: Truelight Baptist Church
Spoken Word Artist of the Year: Angela Agnew
For more information on the awards, visit www.alabamamusicawardsshow.com.
Note: Based on information provided by organizers, this article did not initally list Bianca Clarke as a winner in the hottest breakout artist category. Organizers have since clarified that the category was a tie between Clarke and Black Montana. The story has been updated to reflect that.