But first, some background: This past November, WAMA board member and musician Diana Quinn asked me to suggest some nominees. Each year, WAMA members select most of the nominees, but the organization also contacts "experts" for additional assistance.  I sent her an extensive list of local performers and recordings in the areas of rap, pop, rock, EDM, world music, blues, soul, jazz, roots rock, and metal, and included links from a variety of publications covering those artists and recordings. On the jazz front, I urged her to contact Washington City Paper critic Michael J. West and DJ, writer, and recording engineer Larry Appelbaum.

Quinn said she'd bring my suggestions to WAMA's board. She said WAMA compiles the votes of its dues-paying members, and if there are not enough nominees in some categories, they consider the suggestions of the experts, which have to be seconded by someone in WAMA to make it on the ballot. As for the number of experts contacted this year, WAMA president Mike Schreibman says "anywhere from 2 to 10 depending on the category."

Obviously, I'm pleased to see some of my suggestions made it. For the first time, rapper Fat Trel, experimental-pop act Bluebrain, Mariachi Los Amigos, and eclectic indie label Sockets Records were nominated. Oddisee, Zenizia Allstar, Orquesta La Leyenda, The Caribbean, Deleted Scenes, Kid Congo Powers, and Edie Sedgwick also are included. The Wammies will be that much more diverse this year. The addition of these artists helps make the rapper, electronica artist, record company, Latin duo/group, and pop/rock duo/group categories more reflective of what D.C. had to offer in 2011.

Now for the bad news. The go-go categories almost entirely ignored younger musicians, such as popular and critically lauded bounce beat groups like TCB, XIB, Reaction Band, TOB, and ABM. (I suggested go-go talker Killa Cal, but he didn't make the list.)

The omissions continue. Maryland-based Haitian band Rafrechi may have played Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage recently, but they weren't nominated. Maryland soul singer Jim Bennett won a southernsoulrnb.com award, but he didn't make the cut, either. There is no heavy metal category. Sockets Records got a nomination, but indie-rock acts associated with that label, like Hume and Laughing Man, were not (nor was the Sockets hip-hop band The Cornel West Theory). Few of Michael J.  West’s favorite local jazz musicians are included—where are Brian Settles, Nasar Abadey, and Brad Linde? Volta Bureau , Protect-U, and Outputmessage released acclaimed EDM recordings, but they're not applauded here. I've made the case for many of these musicians in earlier articles on the Wammies, but WAMA doesn't seem interested.

Real talk: In the end, my complaint isn't that individual artists I like are ignored by the Wammies (although plenty are), but that the Wammies need to reach out to a truly wide variety of experts, and do a better job demonstrating they care about all styles of music. It was nice that Quinn reached out to me and included some of my suggestions this year, but it's still disappointing how much impactful local music—much of which is heralded by local media—is ignored each year. While time and time again, WAMA insists it does its homework and that it's the responsibility of skeptics to become paying members of WAMA if they feel a sound needs more attention, the hit-and-miss nature of this year's ballot shows that WAMA's approach is not working. After a quarter century, WAMA has not convinced many local musicians that it is worth it to join the organization.

To get a sense of WAMA's biases, look at the general music awards at the bottom of the ballot. WAMA’s “musician of the year” nominees include roots rockers, folkies, and a klezmer musician, but no modern jazz, reggae, R&B, go-go, metal, or indie-rock players. It should probably go without saying, then, that the category is disappointingly homogeneous—it includes 10 white men and one white woman. Since the Wammies include a wide range of genre categories honoring musicians from all walks of life, you'd think the "musician of the year" prize wouldn't seem limited to such a narrow few.

But that is WAMA. Dues-paying members  have until Feb. 5 to vote for their choices.

*correction-This blogpost originally said there were no metal bands nominated.  While there is no metal category, Periphery was nominated for best modern rock group, and Pentagram for best modern rock recording.

I think producers in the DMV have the skill and talent to produce for anyone in the industry. The DMV is often overlooked when it comes to creating music. This area is known to the majors as a big music consumer area. You can count on one hand the number of artists that have achieved major label status. But its just not about getting on a major. The producers I hand-picked for the project care about the music that represents them. Quality over quantity. You look at any terrestrial radio best MC poll, and you will never hear Oddisee, yU, Kaimbr, Kenn Starr or XO mentioned. We have a long way to if the people here don't know who we are. I picked Ghostface because he is undoubtedly one of the best MCs at picking good beats. Almost every producer shared the same sentiments. The producers on the project are by no means the only talented producers in the area. Some were busy and couldn't make the cutoff date in time. The project was created for two reasons: To showcase the producer talent in the D.C. area and to hopefully have Ghost hear the project and want to rhyme over every track!

Mims also runs Digital Hustle Films, which has shot a lot of DMV-related footage over the past few years.

Arts Desk has written a lot about Kokayi over the years, because he's talented and prolific and all that jazz. The D.C. rapper/singer/producer even did a Snow Day Session. But his latest gambit—offering a free house concert to the 1,400th person who Likes him on Facebook—seemed a bit outré, even for a guy who is known to shamelessly use the Internet to promote his work. We asked him about it:

1. Is this for real? It's like something MTV would do in the '80s.

It is absolutely real. And yes it's a throwback contest. I figured why not do something that would benefit my real fans, something fun and relatively easy to accomplish.

2. Are you desperate?

I am not desperate at all. Like me. I'm not begging. [Please Like me.] ... Subliminal messages really don't work that well in print. Honestly, I mean, I could be on the corner with a "will rap for Likes" sign, but I'd look mad thirsty for love or Likes, as it stands. I looked at the disparity between "friends" (5000) that I have on Facebook and the Likes on my artist page and figured, why not call some attention to it and help them to match, but without spamming folks. I generally want folks to hit the button that actually like the music, not just pressing buttons for the sake of analytics or because they like me as a person.

3. How can you be sure that people won't try to cheat the system? Y'know, Like and Unlike a lot?

There will always be cheats, but how do you know that you'll be the 1400th person? I keep track of all the folks that have already Liked the page, and if i see the numbers drop and see a familiar name, then it's: "Got busted/That cat in the hat"

4. The contest rules say the winner has to provide snacks and beverages. What should they buy for you?

Pez and Van Gogh espresso vodka. No, I mean, whatever they want. No pork though. But the Van Gogh is always welcome. Nine out of 10 livers agree (I need a sponsorship with all this product placement I'm giving, yeesh). I'm not into Twinkies and all that, though one could assume given my lovely physique. However, I'm on my healthy de-fat regimen so, I'm into healthy green rabbit food, power smoothies from Robeks ... all that biz. Frankly, with the recent passing of my hero.. Heavy D (RIP) and comedian Patrice O'Neal, it's really important that everyone take a look at their health and make good choices accordingly. To anyone reading this, I say schedule your doctor's appointment and get your health in order. And it's World AIDS Day today, so get tested and check out your overall health.

At first glance, D.C. rapper SmCity seems all confused in this video for "Twilight," a track from his upcoming The Indie Life: Hate, Love & Money. He's sportin' a limited-edition Nats hat, but that hometown W kinda gets lost in all those Brooklyn Bridge shots. And his sideman is Brooklyn MC Skyzoo. Why shoot the video on his turf? The New Yorker rhymes about getting D.C. love, so let him express it down here, right? It all works out in the end, though, trust us. Here's the important stuff: That wonderfully off-time, conga-heavy beat is by D.C.'s Best Kept Secret, the hook is sung by D.C.'s Kokayi, and the vid itself is a viable example of how to introduce a gargantuan gun and an attractive female into your visuals without dulling their metaphorical power.

D.C.-based rapper/producer Gregory "Grap Luva" Phillips grew up around hip-hop royalty in New York, and is probably best known for his appearances on 1992's Mecca And The Soul Brother, by Pete Rock (Grap's actual brother) and C.L. Smooth. (That's Grap at the beginning of "On And On.") We had a hunch that he'd want to talk about the late Heavy D, so we asked him for some recollections. Here's what he sent:

Dwight "Heavy-D" Myers was a great dude because he was a real dude. He helped or tried to help so many folks in the city of Mt. Vernon, NY. He also was the dude that would come in my Mom's house, clanging her pots on the stove looking for goodies from Mom. From there, he would go upstairs and kick it with my sisters and oldest brother all while giving my brother and I all of 5 minutes to get ready so we can go on a "Heavy-D tour" in his latest ride. This time it's the drop-top Saab and we end up at Al B. Sure's "Rescue Me" video at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NY. So many fond memories and so many things were taught to me...some I paid attention to and some I forgot. He was not flawless because, like I stated previously, he was real. But his good ALWAYS outweighed his bad with me. We have had an argument before but it ended in him showering me with love and me returning that love!!

Grap Luva

The first time I went to California, first time on a tour bus, first time I met some of my favorite artists (Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane) Hev was responsible for that.  He put me in his videos and gave me shine and shouts on his records. He sampled my voice for the "Sister, Sister" record on the "Peaceful Journey" album (I'm saying "sister, sister" on the record). Shoot, he gave me my name!! "Grap" came from Hev. He just started calling me that one day. He then solidified it in the song "Gyrlz They Love Me" off of the "Big Tyme" album. It is a condensed version of my full name. Dope! He was a spiritually strong person as well. He was a child of Jah for sure. I am sure he would want us to celebrate his life instead of mourning his transition. It's just too surreal for me right now though.  I want to have a BIG party for him one day soon! Man, I could talk for days about the things he did for his community, but the greatest thing he did for his community was make you proud to be from Mount Vernon, NY and Jamaica (WI) at the same time! The great things that I state in this writing are just the tip of the iceberg when explaining or defining his character as a man. I will never forget the moments that I spent with him and I will love him iternally!! Jah Bless Dwight "Heavy-D" Myers....love you cuz! I am gonna make sure your legacy rocks on!! I cannot thank you enough!!!

Got to go and listen to some Hev joints!

Wale's sophomore album Ambition sold 164,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard charts (behind Bieber!) and thereby making him twice as popular as the seemingly more popular Big Sean, though still a little less popular than the seemingly as popular J. Cole.

You may have noticed Wale on the cover of last week's Washington City Paper and in an accompanying long-form essay, which I wrote. The piece, which took a deep dive on Wale's career and was extremely critical of Ambition, proved controversial and divisive along predictable lines. Wale's detractors generally seemed to love the piece, while Wale fans loathed it. I guess when writing about something as personal as music, it's almost impossible to turn a mind around completely.

Still, it was frustrating to read the many comments and tweets that only furthered the victimization narrative that Wale has crafted for himself. (Because, to be clear, it's Wale who's placed his detractors—and by extension his engagement with them—at the center of his storyline.) Inevitably, the paper and I were accused of hating, even despite the essay's attempt to diffuse the idea that any—even scathing–critiques come from a place of hatred.

I've been writing about the guy and his music for nearly five years now, sometimes quite positively. Wale is a promising rapper who has made some gigantic missteps, rubbed quite a few people the wrong way in the process, and still landed somewhere close to on top. His trajectory has something to do with his music, sure, but it's also a product of the business choices he's made and the persona he's presented. I don't personally think that he's a "fuckin fag" and I'm fairly certain he's never actually lived in a garbage can. The piece was clear on that, although at least one commenter seemed to think those opinions belong to me, not the detractors whom I referenced.

Recently, New York magazine's Nitsuh Abebe wrote of a similar disconnect when he riled up his corner of the music world with a piece on Feist and Wilco and caused some of his audience to similarly mistake an account of public opinion for his own. On his Tumblr he responded:

Shouldn’t it be more possible—maybe even more common—for essays about music to be able to neutrally describe what “sources say,” or sources do, or sources listen to, without out trying to read behind that into what the author’s own tastes are? Amazingly enough, this isn’t something I’m suggesting out of defensiveness: I just think it’s incredibly important. There needs to be room for music writing that’s not just about the author performing taste and making value judgments. So much of the life of music—the ways we hear it, the things we want from it, and so on—exist in a huge, complicated context, and someone needs to describe that context.

Some readers complained that my article didn't cover enough of the record. But if you were looking for a "pure" record review, it's in there, only it's contained within a broader contextual survey. There's a reason for that: Ambition didn't multiply Attention Deficit's sales several times over because it's a better record (it is, but not considerably so). It did so mostly due to dynamics external to the music—not ambition or achieved excellence. The unfortunate thing is that this moderate success leaves Wale with little incentive to actually improve his music.

But good for him: Maybe he can at least mellow out on Twitter now.

Is “Otis” a terrible song?

I thought so. It’s a lazy, looped beat that is trampled on by weak punch-lines, and is just about impossible to consume. But three songs into Thursday night’s Monsters of Rap summit, the track felt central to whatever cultural unifiers linger in the middle class’ societal fabric. An extended intro turned the Verizon Center into “Try a Little Tenderness” karaoke in the dark, then a big fucking American flag adorned the biggest of the three platforms Jay-Z and Kanye West would go on to occupy; lasers and fire came next.

Just like the $300,000 Maybach the duo carelessly destroys in the "Otis" video, Jay and ‘Ye proceeded to carve into an untouchable standard because they could afford to clear the Otis Redding sample. Wealth is just stuff and the '60s were just things that happened 50 years ago. The united reciprocity from attendees was unguarded catharsis, building up ever since Keith Richards told my generation that Puff Daddy’s “Come With Me” wasn’t real music. And about those attendees: Generation X played cool older sibling, representing the Tunnel Banger era in Timbalands and puffy Gore-Tex winter-fresh vests; white students bobbed along politely, harmless with hoods up; pre-teens who couldn’t discern “Jigga What, Jigga Who” from “Nigga What, Nigga Who” waited patiently for Watch the Throne cuts; and the crowd’s backbone of area African-Americans dressed up for a night at the lounge made everything fun.

It was my fourth time seeing these artists dating back to September 2010 at Yankee Stadium. That show was a brandishing of status fueled by a king’s court of guest stars. March’s undone-by-probing-Tweets South By Southwest mess was about a feigned egalitarian spirit that failed because it turned into a Darwinian model of exclusivity. The summer festival performances by West were theater: inventive and brilliant, led by structured queues. Thursday night was a loose, celebratory rap concert.

After emerging from dueling, elevated blocks on what amounts to opposite ends of where Javale McGee rolls out his “just dunks” offensive philosophy, our heroes stacked two-minute versions of hits for more than two hours. There were nearly 40 songs that took it back to Volume II—a token Reasonable Doubt bone would have been sweet—with a booming parade of muscular tracks everyone knows: “Run This Town” and then “Monster,” “Empire State of Mind” and then “Runaway,” “Big Pimpin’” and then “Gold Digger.”

Collectively, Jay-Z and West have released hugely popular, memorable albums every year since 1996. Extrapolate the smash singles and the night’s playlist was crowded with songs that have big-budget music videos. Under all of the lights, folks knew all of the words.

The same experience happens at Celine Dion or Paul McCartney concerts. But two non-singles brought rare vitality to the traveling arena spectacle. Both of Watch the Throne’s excellent Frank Ocean hooks became reflective bits about where, exactly, a certain class of people sits in society. Leading up to “No Church in the Wild,” a stirring short film of gruesome highlights in American history—race riots, children in KKK outfits, atom bomb tests—compelled even the night’s protagonists to gawk at the screens. During “Made in America,” montage footage of Dr. Martin Luther King played in slow motion; it was another fish- in-a-barrel move that nonetheless stopped everyone in their tracks because of the circumstances surrounding its presentation. Even the club promoters had to breathe it in before eagerly littering 7th Street with glossy invites to exclusive afterparties.

Photos by Ramon Ramirez

While you were sorting out your feelings about Wale this morning, P.G. County's DTMD was releasing this thumped-up remix of the first chunk of "The Flame," the track that wraps up its nifty DTMD: Makin' Dollas album. The original is all huggy synths and hopefulness; the remix by Seattle's Def Dee flips it into something defiant. So when rapper Toine says he's "astral traveling, zoning," it sounds more like a galactic perspective than a head-in-the-couch-cushions trip. Not that there's anything wrong with those.

So here's this nice new video from DMV rapper Killa Cal, the dude known for freestyling in The WHAT? Band, and it's labeled as an "electronic press kit," which is basically a fancy way of saying "infomercial." So what's he selling? There's an album, right? Nah, not really. Maybe next year. Just lots of mixtapes for now. Is he going on tour or something like that? Nope. Just doing the regular go-gos. Has he got a new band? Nuh-uh. So what is it? At 6:15 he shows off his "Action Pack" condom brand. But he's not really pushing those. So what's up? Ah-ha! The money shot comes about 20 seconds after the rubbers, when he mentions his new company, "Rhymesolvers Unit," which operates in one of hip-hop's oldest sub-industries: ghostwriting. He breaks down his career plan this way: "As far as the songwriting, I feel like you can do that 'til you’re 50. ... You can be 50, 60 years old, if you’re good with your pen and your paper, you can make some money." Of course, if somebody with a giant ego (i.e. the average rapper) is paying you to put words in his mouth, the omertà is as important as the marketability of the raps. As Cal says in another video, "we specialize in confidentiality."

Ty says "Colder" will be on his upcoming album, 11 Eleven.