RESPECT | 2013 Ohio Hip Hop Awards Recap
Paralleling the seasonal shift from summer to autumn, a breeze could be felt on Euclid Avenue in Downtown Cleveland as the crown jewel of the Ohio Hip Hop Awards & Music Conference brought an entire weekend of entertaining and informative events to a close. After being held in Columbus for the past two years, the Ohio Hip Hop Awards were back in their birthplace of Cleveland, Ohio with the awards ceremony being held at the historic Ohio Theater at Playhouse Square.
The Ohio Hip Hop Awards committee is always striving to make the event bigger and brighter than the previous year and in its eighth year, things were no different. A lengthy corridor and a few twists and turns lead into the Ohio Theater — vaulted ceilings, beautiful chandeliers and a well-stocked bar welcome any and all guests into the lobby. A pair of attention-grabbing ice sculptures sat in-between two sets of staircases that lead to an area where members of the media are conducting interviews, snapping photos and exchanging contact information. Needless to say, things were in full swing. When all of the hustling and bustling of the pre-show finally calmed down, the artists, presenters, managers and entourages found their places inside the theater.
The show opened with a warm welcome from OHHA founders D. Lorand Jackson, Derrick “Majestic” McKenzie and Garbs Infinite before turning the reigns of the show over to hosts Joe Little of The Rude Boys and J. Graie.
The first two awards of the night, Best Club DJ and Best Mixtape DJ both went to DJ E-V — quickly setting the tone of EST dominance that would define a majority of the show as it pertained to actual awards.
Just as with years past, a great deal of time was dedicated to the live performances. The first set of performances included L-Dro, Garbs Infinite, Khil Datta and Jason DBKS.
Shuicide Holla was crowned Lyricist of the Year, while Tezo’s “Evil Plan” took home the Ohio-shaped hardware for Best Video and Machine Gun Kelly’s cut with Dub-O, Ray Jr., Tezo, JP and Pooh Gutta, “Ratchet,” won the award for Best Collaboration. Accepting on his behalf was Dub-O, who would make several more appearances as the show moved along.
