Nashville, TN—January 31, 2007—-If you weren’t one of the 1900 people in attendance at the 4th Annual Southern Entertainment Awards in Tunica, MS., you definitely should’ve been. The weekend long event which kicked off with an artist showcase on Thursday, January 25 and ended with the awards show on Sunday, January 28 was filled with music, conferences and invaluable networking for all participants—both on stage and off.
Although the focus of this event is to formally acknowledge independent DJs, recording artists, poets, website designers, magazines, e-zines, models, designers and venues working regionally in the rap industry, Janiro Hawkins II, VP and event coordinator says therein lies a deeper motivation.
“We love music, but what we strive to do during this time is educate artists about the business side of music,” says Hawkins. “We work twice as hard as the person who works twice as hard so that we can do our part to better the quality of music that’s coming out.”
Friday, January 26 and Saturday, January 27 were filled with standing room only panels featuring topics like How to Get a Record or Production Deal, Making an Impact: Building a Tremendous Buzz, The Digital Frontier, The Mixtape Game, How to Get Your Record Played on the Radio.
The event also included a Serato Scratch workshop and Meet & Greet sponsored by Swisha House. But, perhaps the most memorable moments during the award-winning weekend were the star-studded performances by Jody Breeze, Trae, Dee Boi, Paper, Big Tuck & Tum Tum, La Chat, 4ize, Rudy Currence, Lotto, Pure Pain, Cadillac Don & J. Money, Billy Cook, Mr. Sche, Billy Cook and Gangsta Boo.
“Every year, thanks to the staff and conference organizer Wendy Day, the SEAs get larger and larger,” says Hawkins. “Already we’re working on getting the word out about our 5th year and we plan on it being our best one yet.”
So, what will they be doing in the meantime? “We have a magazine in the works that will feature some of the SEA nominees, winners, sponsors and upcoming talent in the South,” says Hawkins. “It will premiere bi-yearly; once during nominations (May) and then again when it’s time for people to place their votes (September). We’re also putting plans together to have next year nationally televised. It’s time that more people know that the South is doing great things.”
The 5th Annual SEA Awards will take place on Thursday, January 24 thru
Saturday, January 27, 2008 in Tunica, MS.
For more information contact www.southernentawards.com
Contact: Janiro Hawkins II
Co-Founder/Event Coordinator
615-397-7827
www.southernentawards.com
