PLUG: The Independent Music Awards Official Nominees - Vote Now!
New York, NY (November 20, 2007) – While there is always fierce competition to be the next big artist, do the best live shows and influence the world (ala U2 or Jay-Z), there exists a genuine camaraderie among independent bands and artists that often goes overlooked by the general public. It’s a pure feeling, one that you might find in a hidden spot up in Brooklyn, where the line around the building is as hype as the shoulder-to-shoulder energy inside, where every eye is focused on DJ Premier’s hands, you sweating him, him sweating you, all in anticipation of the next cut and a classic chorus.
In hip hop, though, even with events like Primo getting loose for 250 people in a weedsmoke-laced, small-as-shit club, the underground community can still be a fickle beast. Because as much love as you get from the fans, 97% of every artist you meet is looking to take you out of your lane so he or she can push ahead. It’s nature - there aren’t many people out there looking out for YOUR best interest who legitimately want to build. It’s a tooth and nail mentality and in truth, there’s nothing wrong with that. The culture has bred their artists this way, they want them this way.
But through all that, fans and artists need to understand that the only way they can get on is side-by-side. That’s the way it was done in the 80’s and the early 90’s, and we call those years the best years of hip hop. Why, you ask? Because the battles didn’t erupt in gunfire and the swath of music available satisfied everyone’s tastes. PE and NWA and Tribe could co-exist without one being labeled underground, mainstream or gangster. Hip hop is no where close to dead; it’s alive on every corner, in every notepad, at every cubicle, in every sneaker scuff, in every late-night design inspiration, in every love-making session and on every fingertip that comes to this site and double clicks on someone else’s page to show love and receive it back, all for the glory of letting yourself go and giving the fans a chance to decide which music is the dopest.
If your ego can’t take it, I’m sorry, I can’t do anything for you. But for those that embrace that chance, for those that can’t get enough of music and devoting themselves to the independent spirit every day, there is the Annual PLUG Independent Music Awards.
…”PLUG is about the independent music community coming together to recognize our own,” reads their website. “We’re fans from every walk of the music world who gather each year to recognize the artists who live and flourish in the margins of mainstream culture. While many of the artists on the PLUG ballot are well known to fans steeped in the independent music world, most are nowhere near the household names they deserve to be.
“How does it work? Each fall, we gather the PLUG Cartel (advisory board of 250-300 people who select the nominees), and after collecting/tallying the votes, the official nominees are announced in the form of an online ballot. Fans from around the world then logon to vote the winners who are announced at the PLUG Independent Music Awards Ceremony and Concert in March.”
So… that said… get over to the site, listen to some new music, see what you’ve been missing and VOTE. You might even come across some genres of music you’d never thought to explore. But as is the true essence of hip hop, the urban reaction to the American experience, these are your compatriots telling life as they see it; they’re your friends in the trenches, doing exactly what you’re doing. Check out the indie rock swagger, appreciate the punk aggression, dig into Brother Ali’s vocals and pull out something doper than his rhyme schemes.
Hopefully, by this time next year, we’ll be saying the same thing about you.