by SCOTT C

The second annual Montreal-Underground Gala went down last Saturday night at SAT, honoring the best and brightest in Quebec hip hop. The budding hometown awards show seems to be doing great things to fill the gap left by a music industry that regularly omits contributions by our local urban artists. Thanks to organizers Goofy

Welldone, Chad Damord, Stephane Romain (Slym) and Billy-John Datus (Vulguerre), Montreal artists can glean encouragement and support from fellow artists, peers and critics, as well as their fans here at home. Awards were given out in 20 categories, and the event included a surprise appearance by the one and only Sizzla, who took a minute to stop by and present the award for best reggae group to Kulcha Connection, en route to his show at Medley later that night. Atach Tatuq took home three awards, with best francophone album, best album cover and best group to brag about. Hopefully, we’ll see some more money channelled into supporting this hardworking crew, and their name getting out beyond the borders of Quebec. In addition, best producer went to Atach Tatuq maestro Toast Dawg, while two-time winner Monk-e was honoured with awards for best graf artist and best video, for the amazing effort on the clip for “Esprit d’combat” featuring the Fast Motion Crew. MTL cats making videos should take note and simply check this video out before deciding to come with another weak-ass scenario. Bless got kudos for The Book of Bless, winning best anglophone album as well as artist of the year, and best collaboration for the song “Jealousy” with Rah Digga. The best single award went to Accrophone for “Laissez-moi dormir,” while best demo/EP went to Nomadic Massive’s Nomad’s Land. No surprise that the award for most recognition outside of Quebec went to A-Trak, who has been busy blazing his name into the minds of malleable little Kanye West fans for the last year.

You can check out the rest of the awards that were given out by going to the Gala Web site, www.galamu.com. Congratulations to all the winners, and respect to the organizers for bringing a reputable event to the Montreal/Quebec hip hop scene.

Just quickly, Skratch Bastid and that cuddly DJ Huggs square off this Friday, March 24 at Academy (4445 St-Laurent) for another edition of the Megablast. For only $5 before midnight, you can feel the effects of a blistering set of hardcore hip hop and heavy-duty funk. These guys don’t play. Also on Friday, the unrivaled DJ Poontz sets up his ice-cream van at Stereo for a night of his specialties—breaks, house, electro, hip hop and drum & bass. Even though this guy needs a shave, and maybe a few more hours of sleep, he’ll still be able to bring the pain on one of the best sound systems in town.

DJ MANIFEST WAS VOTED THE BEST... fathead@videotron.ca

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