According to Robert "Robski" Grady, founder of Nashvillerap.com and co-founder of the inaugural Tennessee Music Conference and Hip Hop Awards, the local rap scene is "in a state of emergency."
"You've got guys in the business that live like a two or three block radius from each other," he says, "and they don't even mess with each other."
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It's a common complaint from voices in Nashville's diverse urban music community that few among its ranks are interested in working together to better everyone's fortunes.
Grady's hope is that the Conference and Hip Hop Awards today and Sunday at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel and Gaylord Opryland Convention Center might change the outlook of local urban artists and help guide them toward building a more collaborative, community-based foundation.
Grady got his start in the industry as an intern at local urban music stations, then moved into booking and promoting shows for artists such as Nashville rap success Young Buck, who will co-host the awards show with DJ Freddy Hydro and fellow local rapper All Star.
After seeing similar events impact other cities' communities, Atlanta-based Ozone Magazine's Ozone Awards among them, Grady wondered what he could do for Nashville.
"I went to other states' award shows and watched how they did it," Grady says. "And I thought it was about time for Tennessee to do one."
Old, new artists mingle
Grady describes the conference as a "big networking event," and he hopes it will help "educate all the up-and-coming artists trying to make it in the business." The awards show will honor new acts and pay tribute to Tennesseans such as Young Buck who have already impacted hip-hop culture on the national stage.
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