2010 Best Local Non-Rock CD Release
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31.21% Hometown Hooligans,
Others with Votes (more than one):
Aaron King, The Teacher
* On the ballot
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Hip-hop six-some Hometown Hooligans had a little unfinished business to take care of on Whammy night. The Hooligans -- Rod "DJ Epitaph" Kirkland, Quentin "Massakre" Horton, Nick "Big A.C." Parent, Shane "Custommade Smitty" Smith, Jason "Portable J" Ayala and Tyler "DJ Konfewshus" Davis -- had never, despite their six years as a group, taken home a Whammy. That all changed this year when Brenn Beck and Joe Evans (of Left Lane Cruiser) had the pleasure of calling their name as the winners of the Best Non-Rock CD Release for their first full-length album, Unfinished Business. The victory was made even sweeter by the fact that (a) the Hooligans have, in the past, lost a few albums to hard drive failure, and (b) they weren't expecting to emerge triumphant in a diverse and extremely competitive category that also included Ty Causey's Down II Earth, End Times Spasm Band's 2, Jerome Schooley's Never Forget the Big Pisser and Lance Hoeppner's Well Into the Night. "It felt amazing," said Kirkland. "With all the talent represented in that category it was an honor. Before we got that call to the stage we were waiting in line like everyone else. It was like on American Idol where you see the contestants holding hands and hoping, and then they called our name and it was like, 'We made it. We made it on.'" Shane "Custommade Smitty" Smith told the crowd that he and his mates do what they do for the sheer love of performing original, old-school hip-hop. "We don't do it for money. We don't do it for fame. We do it for family. We do it for hip-hop. We do it for you," he said. Not that anyone who caught the Hooligans' set an hour earlier could have been in doubt of their motives. They brought the audience to its feet with an irresistibly funny and fun set that ended, of all things, with a tune about Willie Nelson. Willie Nelson? Horton explained that "Willie Nelson," which appeared on Smith's first solo album, was inspired by the idea that if Nelson were to have his pick of people to party with in Fort Wayne, he'd most likely choose the Hooligans. (Can't argue with that.) The track is also indicative of the Hooligans' unique aesthetic which incorporates not only hip-hop, but R&B, rock, funk and even a little country. "Our sound is homegrown," said Horton. "It's very real. You can hear all of our backgrounds in every song we do. This is not an East or West Coast thing. We're all Midwest." The Hooligans are helping create, one raised roof at a time, the Indiana school of rap, known not for gangsters, guns and hos, but for originality, musicianship and humility. "It was an honor to be nominated, and exciting and exhilarating and totally surprising to win," Horton said of their Whammy experience. "We felt like celebrities for a night." (Deborah Kennedy) |
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