Awards Tour

Southern rap magazine Ozone hustled its way into the awards show game last year, presenting a program as musically satisfying and gossip-fueling as its informative and edgy printed pages. It was mounted in conjunction with TJs DJs Tastemakers DJ/Music Conference, a weekend of artist showcases and practical panel discussions. The latter is normally an oxymoron when it comes to music industry powwows. Panels are often thought of as a waste of time, but these stood out as the opposite.

"What this award show [and conference] allows people to do is focus on young artists, and lets people come in and learn from some of the most elite people in the South for little or nothing," Atlanta rapper Killer Mike told national mag The Fader last year. "Like, whatever they charged was well below [what it was worth for] the advice.... That conference was possibly one of the best music conferences I've been to."

After attending the 2006 event, I concluded there was only one obviously wrong element: It was held in Orlando. This complaint is resolved this year by a move south to Miami, where at least there are a few more activities to be had outside of O-Town's strip mall hell.

"Since Ozone magazine got its start — and its name — from Orlando, it was only fitting to do the first annual Ozone Awards in our hometown," explains publisher Julia Beverly, who recently relocated the company to Atlanta. "This year," she says, "we moved it to Miami because it's beautiful, and it's known as the party city. Everybody loves to come to Miami. What better place to do an award show?"

Beverly isn't the first person in hip-hop to deem these shores a good spot for an awards show. A great city isn't always a recipe for success, but it should work well in tandem with the precedent for smooth execution laid down at the first Ozone Awards.

There is a wild card this year, however: the South Florida heat that visitors always seem to blame for their unpredictable and/or crazy antics. (This ain't your grandfather's Miami, after all.) In the end, that might turn out to be Ozone's most exciting special guest star.