The 2nd Annual Kentucky Urban Entertainment Awards took place at the luxurious Coconut Beach on South Floyd Street in Louisville, KY. The event brought out some of Kentucky’s brightest rising stars, from all across the state, to celebrate their excellence in the urban entertainment field.
The award ceremony was presented by the Elitegiance Group – headed by Ricky “DJ Slikk” Murphy. The event was created to highlight and acknowledge the “Elite” of Kentucky’s entertainment scene.
During a radio interview on “Saturdays with Mikesha”, just hours before the event, Murphy went into detail about the Kentucky Urban Entertainment Awards and how the nomination process takes place.
“The Elitegiance started off as a DJ collective and then we branched out to anybody dealing with music… So we have photographers, we have producers, we have promoters… Any aspect of entertainment – that’s just what we do.” – DJ Slikk
The most interesting aspect of the Kentucky Urban Entertainment Awards is that the nominees and winners are primarily determined by the fans. During the summer of each year, The Elitegiance opens up the survey section of their website and allows the public to submit names/brands of the entertainers they would like to nominate under the pre-selected categories.
Weeks later, after all the nominees are officially selected by Elitegiance staff members, the fans will then be allowed to vote for a winner in each category.
“We come up with the categories and nominations usually last through the whole month of June… Basically you just go online and nominate people… The nominations come from a combination of a panel and the popular vote but nominations are mainly from the popular vote.” – DJ Slikk
The event began at 5:30pm with a Red Carpet walk, featuring interviews with the nominees, conducted by Bella Rae and DJ Empty Beats of B96. The award ceremony began promptly at 7pm.
The evening was filled with performances by acts: Tyrant, Kori Black, 31 Gang and others. One of the most memorable moments of the night occurred when Christopher 2X accepted his “Activist of the Year” award and shared it with the mother of Dequante Hoobs’ Jr., the 7 year-old who was murdered in his Louisville home earlier this year.
Winner’s List available below and also visit The Elitegiance website for all other information regarding the 2017 Kentucky Urban Entertainment Awards.
In Memory Of:
DJ Bam of Underground Mafia
World Record for Longest DJ Set (10+ days straight):
DJ Colossus
Community Activist of the Year:
Christopher 2x
Photographer of the Year:
Babacar Sambe
Videographer of the Year:
BMI Media
Graphic Designer of the Year:
Michelle Ignacio – ScreenShot Studios
Clothing Line of the Year:
DOH Lyfe
Retailer of the Year:
Rebellious Kouture
Model of the Year:
Joia John
On-Air Personality of the Year:
Tropikana
Media Outlet of the Year:
B96.5 FM Louisville
Venue of the Year:
Coles Place
Party/Event of the Year:
Goodtimers Derby Day Party
Teen Promoter of the Year:
4 Your Kids Ent.
College Promoter of the Year:
I-65 Nation
21 & Up Promoter of the Year:
DJ Equip
Hip-Hop Artist of the Year:
Dusty Leigh
Female Hip-Hop Artist of the Year:
Sasha Renee
R&B Artist/Group of the Year:
Linkin Bridge
DJ of the Year:
DJ Empty Beats
Female DJ of the Year:
DJ Bombshell
Mixtape DJ of the Year:
DJ Testarosa
Mixshow DJ of the Year:
DJ Empty Beats
Hypeman of the Year:
Big Homie
Rookie of the Year:
Jai
Lyricist of the Year:
Knave
Producer of the Year:
Super NES
Engineer of the Year:
Ghost
Hip-Hop Family of the Year:
Shark Livin
Smashing The Streets: Louisville:
Lil Cole
Smashing The Streets: Lexington:
Booney Moonrock
Smashing The Streets: Western Kentucky
AMG / GMT
Smashing The Streets: Eastern Kentucky:
DJ Legit
Grinder of the Year:
Stook
Mixtape of the Year:
Jai – Loc’s Up Hosted by DJ Slikk & DJ Empty Beats
Album of the Year:
Kori Black – Vybez
Song of the Year:
Tyrant Ft. Kori Black – Louisville
Video of the Year:
Kori Black – I Might
Living Legend Awards:
1. DJ Kaos
2. DJ Lil Carl
Static Major Award:
Valerie Sickles
Brad Harrison is a journalist/motivational speaker/entrepreneur and on-air personality. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications with cum laude honors from the University of Louisville. In October 2015, he started UrbanMaxx Magazine to provide positive role models for Urban residents that reside in at-risk-communities and lack positive leadership in their lives.
For booking or advertising – contact Brad Harrison at bradharrison@urbanmaxx.com