Hapilos awards on tonight
FEMALE producers are expected to vie for top honours in this evening’s 21st Hapilos Digital Music Awards scheduled for the Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston, St Andrew.
The invitation-only ceremony is slated to begin at 6:30 pm.
Nathaniel Wright, 21st Hapilos’s label manager, said the Top Female Producer category is the newest addition to the awards ceremony which was first hosted in 2011.
“Female producers and artistes have never received full recognition in the music industry as it’s male dominated. They have to work twice as hard and twice as good to get any recognition. So we at 21st Hapilos aim to bridge that gap… We’re levelling the playfield,” Wright told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.
“Producers, in general, do about 90 per cent of the work, while the artistes get all the lime light. So we are bringing those in the shadows to the forefront. We, at 21st Hapilos, are committed to working with females in the industry,” he continued.
There are four nominees for the category Top Female Producer. These are: Twelve 9 Records (Tricia “ZJ Sparks” Spence), Paypaz Chasaz Muzic (Tamara Brown), Short Boss Muzik (Tanesha “Shorty” Johnson), and Stashment Productions (Stasha Smith).
According the label manager, the 21st Hapilos Digital Music Awards will also bring back some credibilty to local music industry awards show.
“Our award is based on statistics, numbers, and sales. So persons nominated are based off sales data,” said Wright.
The other 20 categories include Top Female Artist, Top New Producer, Most Streamed Artist, Most Downloaded Artist, Most Streamed Single, and Top Vevo Video.
The occasion will aslo see performances from Alaine, Elephant Man, Tommy Lee Sparta, and Bella Blair.
“It’s gonna be a classy event with great entertainment,” Wright added.
21st Hapilos Digital Distribution is a dancehall and reggae online distribution company based in Manhattan, New York, and Kingston, Jamaica. Distributing music globally since 2009, the company has handled material for top acts including Mavado, Sizzla, Beenie Man, Sean Paul, and Popcaan.
