From humble beginnings of ciphers on sidewalks to the spotlight of commercial media, hip-hop has gone through transformations that challenged its integrity. In Madison, there is a movement to acknowledge its presence within a community dynamic. This past Sunday night the Barrymore Theater played host to Madison's First Annual Hip-Hop Awards. While its resources were not humble—smoke machine, lasers, advanced lighting, the nature of the prefix ""first"" captures the modest beginning of this newborn event, one that glorifies the positive in hip-hop.
The night was dedicated to the growth of Madison's hip-hop scene, with various awards to acknowledge the talents of local artists, as well as performances from local groups Dumate, Star Persons, Krucial Impact and the UW-Madison's own First Wave. An interview with the host/member event organizer, Mark Evans, clarified the event's aim as providing ""unity amongst artists in Madison in the hip-hop community."" Or simply, to ""put the unity in community."" Mark, aka Shah, also explained the nomination process to involve self-nomination with the requirements of an online presence and an active Madison performance record. These open requirements allowed underground artists to receive credit for their work.
A variety of awards were given out including promoter, mixtape, hip-hop duo and album of the year. While time restraints didn't allow some winners stage time for speeches, announcements of winners were accompanied by shouts from a supportive audience. The superstar of the night was DJ Pain 1, who earned four awards as well as producer participation in two other projects that won awards. As DJ for the event, Pain 1 showed his personality by playing brief intro music for himself before accepting the awards. Amongst his titles, DJ Pain 1 is now known in Madison's hip-hop scene as the most influential, DJ, Grinder, and producer of the year 2010.
In an interview, DJ Pain 1 explained that his participation in Madison's hip-hop scene began with producing in 1998. However, Pain 1 says he has been ""relentlessly working towards [music-making within] the last 3-4 years."" Pain 1's hip-hop résumé includes collaborations with local artists and award winners Young J. Diamondzz and 9 Delegates, as well as nationally known artists Young Jeezy and Chuck D. He also mixes and hosts his radio show, ""Planet Jams,"" with MC Starr on 93.1 FM. Indeed, Pain 1's efforts deserve the recognition he received at Madison's hip-hop Awards.
DJ Pain 1 claims ""there is a dark cloud hanging around hip-hop in Madison."" Despite this overcast perspective, the event, which was a fundraiser for Toys for Tots, contained multiple positive messages. During the first award presentation, aptly named the ""Next Generation"" award, the presenter reminded audience members of the benefits music has on children. Despite his major success, Pain 1 did not have to deal with ""haters."" Pain 1 described his own revelation of hating as ""wasted energy.""
Like any developing event, there were minor issues, including time management and sound loss, during the last musical performance. Nonetheless the event managed to draw a crowd of 200 plus people, a positive sign that the event could become a new tradition in Madison's hip-hop scene. This number will hopefully grow to include more supporters including the university artist demographic, which seemed absent from the event.
