New Orleans "Viewer's choice" awards grown from local hip-hop entertainment television.

Phat Phat N all That show

Reprinted from:
By: Alison Fensterstock, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Public access television in New Orleans has long been a platform for the city’s hip-hop and R&B scene. Shows like “Phat Phat N’All That” and its long-running antecedent “All Good In The Hood” (which now airs in three states) featured big-name national performers coming through New Orleans, as well as early performances and interviews with local artists – many of whom would go on to make their mark nationally – like the Hot Boys and Mystikal.

Host and producer Nicole Perry, with her NOA-TV program “Talk To Me New Orleans,” continues the tradition of spotlighting local rappers and R&B and soul singers - while also casting a wider net, bringing community leaders, business owners and activists onto her talk show.

On Jan. 9, Perry and others behind “Talk To Me New Orleans” will host the Viewer’s Choice Awards at Tipitina’s, honoring some of her favorite guests of the past few years and other players in the local cultural community.

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Several years ago, “All Good In The Hood” producers John and Glenda Robert themselves hosted a one-off awards show honoring pioneers in the bounce scene, and have been recently seeking sponsors for another. The three-year-old New Orleans Underground Hip-Hop Awards clearly has found a niche, identifying and celebrating mixtape releases, promoters, DJs, producers, music videos and local contemporary R&B, bounce and hip-hop performers individually. The urban music-focused shows complement other longstanding local music awards events, such as Gambit’s springtime Big Easy Awards and Offbeat’s Best of the Beat (coming up Jan. 18 at Generations Hall) whose umbrellas are broader, and seek to encompass the entire New Orleans music scene.

Viewer’s Choice Awards will be given in the expected categories for performers, Perry said, but also for “business owners and community activists that work for the city all year,” she said. “This is our way of giving back.”

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Best female rap nominee, Cheeky Blakk

The rapper Cheeky Blakk, a nominee for best female rap artist, commented: “It’s a good show, with something for everybody – all the different worlds, not one particular style of music.”

Blakk, who will reign alongside rapper Katey Red as co-queen of the satirical parade Krewe Delusion when it rolls Jan. 19, has had a good couple of years; a major voice in bounce during the mid-to-late 90s, Blakk’s career has seen a recent renaissance with her discovery by a new generation of New Orleans bounce fans.

She appeared on season 3 of HBO’s Treme, and has an upcoming set of gigs at the SXSW music conference in Austin in March 2013. At the third annual New Orleans Underground Hip-Hop Awards, Blakk was nominated for best bounce artist.