Olympia MC, Afrok dominated the much scrutinized and criticized nominee list for the 2nd Annual 25360 Awards.  Not only was he nominated for the most awards (three), but he won each category as voted on by the public.  Afrok won in the categories of Best Come Up, awarded to the individual or group who made the greatest stride in their field of work in the past year; Song of The Year for "Shine Like Diamonds," and the most coveted category for these awards - MC of The Year. 

The awards, held at The Loft on Cherry as an intermission at the 8th Annual Hip-Hop 4 The Homeless/Haiti Benefit Weekend's Saturday show, did not go off without controversy.  In the weeks leading up to the awards, much of the public criticized and poked jabs at the lists of nominees (most of all were submitted by the public) stating that "this artist" or "that artist" should be nominated even though the awards were open to public nomination. Still, the same nominees persisted and had great support from fans and industry heads alike. Notable industry heads in attendance were public relations executive Echo Curry and her team, J-Mar Da Sik and his manager Mark Matthews, DougCain out of Tacoma, Fatu of Fatu Fragrances and Fashions/Rhythms and Rituals, SP aka Slo Poke, DJ El Goonie, Savage Family, T.I.G. from The Bay Area and others.

Another monumental moment of the awards was the addition of namesakes upon the DJ of The Year and Radio Host/Show of The Year.  Industry pioneer and legend, Nasty Nes formerly of KFOX in Lakewood and KCMU's RapAttack in Seattle granted the blessing to use his name for The DJ of The Year Award (Thank you, NES!).  The Radio Host/Show of The Year was named after Industry pioneer in radio DJ Nancy G. Nancy G was on-air in the mid-‘80s at KAOS 89.3 FM in West Olympia forging the way for awesome female radio hosts. We acknowledge and respect the contributions of these two giants in our industry who rep the 25360 real tough!

Here is the list of 25360 Award Winners for each category:

MC of The Year: AFROK (Oly)

The Nasty Nes DJ of The Year: DJ DRASTIC (2^nd Year in a row) (Oly/ATL)

The Woman of The Year: HILARY HACKER (Oly)

The Man of The Year: TODD DENNY (Oly)

Lifetime Achievement/Recognition Award: WOJACK (Tac)

Hustla of The Year: TIE - JAY BARZ (Tac) & NICATINE (Oly)

Producer of The Year: SMOKE (Oly/Seattle)

New Artist of The Year: NIGHT FOX (Oly)

Best Come Up: AFROK (Oly)

Album of The Year: JUNKYARD GANG - Where In The World Is Taylor Jones? (Oly)

Song of The Year: AFROK - "Shine Like Diamonds" (Oly)

Video of The Year: Evergreen One & Todd Sykes - "'90s S**t" (Tac)

The Nancy G Best Radio Show/Host of The Year: DJ Kalambre (KAOS 89.3 FM) (Oly)

Model of The Year: Natasha Diva (Silverdale)

Athlete of The Year: Jonathan Stewart (Lacey)

Organization of The Year: The Center for Community Based Learning and Action (Oly)

Promoter of The Year: Homeland Security (Oly)

Best Nightclub: The Royal Lounge (Oly)

Best Music/Vinyl Shop: Rainy Day Records (Oly)

Best Eatery: TIE - Old School Pizza (Oly) & The Fish House Café (Tac)

These are your award winners... Again, the list is NOT meant to be definitive, but more so a way to recognize and respect what is going on in this ghost region of entertainment and support.  See you next year!  Peace.

Winners Train, Losers Complain... Do Yo' Thang!!!

Peace & Love

Jose S. Gutierrez Jr. aka DJ LUVVA J is an award-winning editor, writer, producer, educator, music director and consultant.  A graduate of Washington State University and student at The Evergreen State College, he writes and edits the Pacific Northwest section of Ozone Magazine and hosts and produces Live From I-5 Radio (since ‘89) on The KAOS Block Party every Friday at 3 p.m. on KAOS 89.3 FM where he is the Music Director (www.kaosradio.org / Comcast Ch. 982 / TCTV Ch. 22) in Olympia. He can be followed at hiphop@theweeklyvolcano.com, Myspace.com/luvvaj, Facebook.com/luvvaj and Twitter.com/luvvaj