Awards show celebrates hip hop royalty and community achievements

MANSFIELD — Orange Street, on the north side of the city, was buzzing with excitement on April 1 as the North American Music Awards (NAMAS) returned to Mansfield for the first time since its inception in 2007.

Tyrone Johnson, Executive Director of the NAMAS, started the event back in 2007. The first one was held at the Kehoe Center. After holding the event in Columbus for several years, it was time to bring it all back to where it started.

“We’ve come full circle and we’re going back to the roots,” Johnson said.

Danny Holmes Jr., CEO of RDG Music Group, has been a friend and business partner of Johnson for nearly 20 years. Holmes, who manages a handful of artists and has connections at Empire and Sony, played a big part in organizing this year’s NAMAS.

“My goal is to help everyone I can locally in my city,” said Holmes, who was born and raised in Mansfield.

Holmes helped create nearly 30 categories of awards that recognized artists and other people in the community who were doing good work.

One such honoree was Tiger Bradley, who received an award for his play, “The Healing Project.” In his speech, he emphasized that the community (of Mansfield) should remain united and not become divided.

In between the award announcements, the event featured live performances from various artists across Ohio.

Julie Riggs, from Canton, won Best Female R&B artist and drew oohs and aahs with a soulful performance to kick off the night. Robin Da Plug, from West Salem, showed off his lyrical skills performing three songs.

It was the Mansfield artists who received the most applause as they were performing on their home turf.

Lil Stee had the crowd energized with his lively performance of “Me and You.” Vaundoom wowed the audience with a couple of songs from his award-winning album, “The Curse of Man.” Dynasty, which is the solo project of Danny Holmes, took the award home for Best Rap Single for his hit track “Silent Night” and delivered a passionate performance. Papillon, who arrived at the event in a bathrobe, brought a playful energy to the stage. Ky Lyric, a nominee for Best Female Artist, recently started her musical journey but showed a remarkable comfort on stage. AP the Kidd, who won Best Male Artist, and Kench, who won Best Hip Hop Breakthrough Artist, were also among the performers who brought their A-game to the NAMAS stage.

Niquasaucin didn’t perform at the event, but took home the Best Female Artist and Level Up Award. She said these awards meant a lot to her and dedicated her success to her mother who passed away in 2014.

“My mother passed in 2014 after being diagnosed with cancer in 2012 – this means a lot to me because my mom was a music head – loved music, dancing, praise dances, anything energetic and she was there,” Niquasaucin said.

“She pushed me before she passed – ‘do not let nobody stop you from shining, don’t let nobody belittle you or have doubt in you.’ And I just kept that mindset – my mom was there for me every minute, hour and second, she’s here with me now and that’s what pushes me to be great.”

AP the Kidd was surprised to win Best Male Artist and was very grateful to be honored and included in this year’s NAMAS. Kench, who will be performing at Richland Source’s Newsroom After Hours hip hop night on June 16, was also grateful and thanked all the people that voted for him to win Best Hip Hop Breakthrough.

His message to aspiring artists was to, “keep going for what you believe in – never stop. Ignore the hate and excuses. Life is full of obstacles – it’s how you react to those obstacles, don’t let them defeat you, don’t become a victim to them.”

Holmes, who was also honored with a Lifetime Image Award, offered distribution deals to all the artists that showed up to the 2023 NAMAS. With his vision and dedication, he hopes to help local artists gain more exposure and recognition on a larger scale.

Johnson and Holmes recognize the talent in Mansfield and hope to keep the event local in future years, expanding it to include more artists from places and continuing to give local artists a platform to shine.

🏆 See the full list of 2023 NAMAS winners below:

Best Male Artist: AP The Kidd
Best Rap Artist: Flames OhGod
Artitst of the Year: RUGRAT Chuckiee
Best Artist Over All: Flames OhGod
Video of the Year: I’m From Texas (Bad Habbitz)
R&B Artist of the Year: Dell4K
Best Female Artist: Niquasaucin
Hottest Hip-Hop Couple: Wizdom & Ms. C
Hottest Video Overall: DJ juice- Cream
Faith-Based Song of the Year: God’s child, FT KG Kridd
Best Male Artist Over All: Flames OhGod
Video Vanguard Award: wizdom-“Hold on My heart
Best Artist Overall Female: Kalah Bishop
Lyricist of the Year: Dutch
Best Rap Single: Silent night-Dynasty
The Dr Christian Adversity Award (honorees): Tina Young – Her service to the community; DJ Sparky-for service to the community; T. Vickz & Mrs Dean – The 1st Married couple in Hip-hop; Tiger Bradley – Plays of hurt and healing project
Hitta’s Anthem: Gatti Gramz – “Sum it up”
Hottest Female Video: KB The Goddess – Lady Pond
Man of the Year: Jeffery Jones
Woman of the Year: Chrissey Jones
Most Inspirational Gospel Artist: Quiness Pierre
Best Female R&B: Julie Riggs
Lifetime image award: Danny Holmes Jr.
Hip-Hop Breakthrough Artist: K3nch
Hip-Hop Level up Award: Niqusaucin
Album of the Year: Vaundoom, “The curse of Man”
Lifetime Achievement & Ambition Award: Walter Johnson, DJ Edub, Killa B, Lambo Swerve
I Am Hip-Hop Award: Nahbiyah