(AllHipHop News) Last night (November 19th), 242 W 41st St turned into the veritable center of the international DJ culture as a vast array of DJ’s, musicians, label heads and more attended the 2nd annual Global Spin Awards.
Held at The Times Square Center, a who’s who of the music industry was present and arrived in droves causing the event to begin considerably later than expected. The scene was a madhouse of journalists attempting to verify credentials while simultaneously trying to get any artist to stop for an interview.
Within the madness lied a bevvy of the most influential members of the DJ community of the past 25 years congregating for the first time in decades. DJ Premier, DMC of Run DMC, DJ Kid Capri, DJ Irie and many others converged on this night:
The night was full of artists, most with over 15 years in the Hip Hop game, wanting to express their love for the DJs who laid the groundwork for those MC’s to flourish. Treach from Naughty By Nature spoke EXCLUSIVELY with AllHipHop about his views of DJs and his earliest memories of the DJ culture:
One of the biggest surprises was Kendrick Lamar showing up unexpectedly and presented the night’s first award, Online Satellite DJ Award to DJ Drama.
Once the award show began, it was clear that while the Global Spin Awards is an ambitious initiative, it is by no means a well-oiled machine. A few awards were given out without the nominees being read with the West Regional Mixshow DJ being awarded to DJ Skee after only DJ Skee was announced as a nominee. Jeremih presented the Regional/National Club DJ of the year award to two DJs (Steph Floss and Bay Bay) before correctly rewarding the Miami Heat’s official DJ, DJ Irie.
Even in the midst of technical difficulties and an overpacked venue, the 2013 Global Spin Awards provided some heartfelt moments, such as DJ Kid Capri tearing up when accepting his Lifetime Achievement Award. A video of Capri’s former boss and longtime friend Russell Simmons was played where the mogul explained the importance DJ Kid Capri had on the DJ culture:
I don’t think anybody is nearly as influential in shifting the culture from the old school ot the new school as [Kid Capri].
Check out Marley Marl, DMC, Pete Rock, DJ Vlad and Statik Selektah speak to EME Takeover on the importance of the DJ and its evolution:
Check out a full list of the winners below:
LEGENDARY DJ AWARD HONOREE
DJ Marley Marl
DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ ENVY
BREAKTHROUGH DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ DALTON
FEMALE DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ DIMEPIECE
DJ ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
DJ IRIE
DJ PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
DJ MUSTARD
ONLINE/SATELLITE RADIO DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ DRAMA
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD HONOREE
DJ Kid Capri
TOUR DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ E SUDD
TURNTABLIST OF THE YEAR
DJ SCRATCH
REMIXER OF THE YEAR
DJ TED SMOOTH
LOUNGE DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ SINATRA
BIG ROOM DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ JUS SKE
REGGAE DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ KING WAGGY T
NATIONAL CLUB DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ IRIE
REGIONAL CLUB DJ OF THE YEAR
NORTHEAST
DJ CAMILO
REGIONAL CLUB DJ OF THE YEAR
SOUTHEAST
DJ INFAMOUS
REGIONAL CLUB DJ OF THE YEAR
MIDWEST
DJ STEPH FLOSS
REGIONAL CLUB DJ OF THE YEAR
WEST
DJ BAY BAY
NATIONAL MIX SHOW DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ FUNKMASTER FLEX
REGIONAL MIXSHOW DJ OF THE YEAR
NORTHEAST
DJ PROSTYLE
REGIONAL MIXSHOW DJ OF THE YEAR
SOUTHEAST
DJ GRIOT
REGIONAL MIXSHOW DJ OF THE YEAR
MIDWEST
DJ 33 1/3
REGIONAL MIXSHOW DJ OF THE YEAR
WEST
DJ SKEE
NATIONAL MIXTAPE DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ DRAMA
REGIONAL MIXTAPE DJ OF THE YEAR
NORTHEAST
DJ TY BOOGIE
REGIONAL MIXTAPE DJ OF THE YEAR
SOUTHEAST
DJ BIGGA RANKIN
REGIONAL MIXTAPE DJ OF THE YEAR
MIDWEST
DJ MOON DAWG
REGIONAL MIXTAPE DJ OF THE YEAR
WEST
DJ SKEE
INTERNATIONAL DJ OF THE YEAR
DJ STARTING FROM SCRATCH
CELEBRITY DJ OF THE YEAR
SWIZZ BEATZ
MIXSHOW PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
RON STEWART
CLUB MC OF THE YEAR
KENNY BURNS
CLUB PROMOTER OF THE YEAR
ALEX GIDEWON
ONLINE RECORD BREAKERS