« DJ Amen of KMEL explains the Bay Area Freshmen 10 (Interview) »

UPDATE: Online nominations are OVER! The #BayAreaFreshmen10 for 2011 will be announced SOON on 106.1 KMEL Hometurf Radio!

For the past few weeks, Twitter & Facebook users have been bombarded with the hashtag #BayAreaFreshmen10, a spin-off of XXL's Freshmen 10 awards. Started by DJ Amen in 2010, the Bay Area Freshmen 10 has been a key component in building awareness for local artists in a market that is saturated with talent. Last year's Freshmen have been featured on MTV (Roach Gigz), received critical acclaim throughout the blogosphere and writing world (DaVinci, Moe Green) and have used the exposure to create an army of new fans with their new releases.

We caught up with DJ Amen, a radio DJ for Bay Area hip-hop station 106.1 KMEL who has built a reputation as a key supporter of up & coming Bay Area acts, and got a chance to talk about this year's class of Bay Area Freshmen 10 and how it all works...

Thizzler: Aaaaaaamen! So this is the 2nd year of the Bay Area Freshmen 10 and it's really poppin' off on Twitter and Facebook, having trended a couple times on Twitter in the past few weeks and gaining over 2900 Facebook fans in 3 days. What exactly IS the Bay Area Freshmen 10?

Amen: The local version of the Freshmen 10 is another vehicle for us, the community, to celebrate fresh faces in Bay Area Hip Hop scene. It is very self explanatory. We reach out to the fans and power players and we create a list of "who to watch this year" for the Bay Area. There is a bunch of different things we do year round but the Freshmen 10 has turned into a whole other monster due to the ease of social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, etc...

Thizzler: Okay. Why is this so important for the Bay Area?

Amen: I have always advocated that everybody should be supporting new talent on the rise and spotlight the young artists that have been working really hard to get noticed. If we come together and show that hard work pays off, hopefully it will be motivation to really get the Bay where it needs to be, back on top.

Thizzler: I see. XXL has their own Freshmen 10 every year, which I know was part of the inspiration for the Bay Area Freshmen 10, how do you feel about people saying that you jacked their idea?

Amen: I think they had a great idea and have done a exceptional job year after year to expose new artists on a international scale. I respect everything they have done to inform the public of whats going on in other states/cities through their magazine and website and in the same light we hope to introduce new artists just as they have by using the same concept. Imitation is the best form of flattery. I salute them. People can have their opinions, but at the end of the day we are trying to do something positive in a place where there isn't much (positivity) going around. I want to be part of the solution.

Last year's Bay Area Freshmen 10 Music Meeting mixtape

Thizzler: Definitely. So I'm sure a lot of people have been asking you this, but what is the process for selecting this year's Bay Area Freshmen 10?

Amen: Well first we kick off the campaign online with the community nominating who they think should be in the ten via Twitter, Facebook, our websites, etc. Then we gather a small panel (15-20 people) who hold weight in, heavily influence, and breathe the Bay Area music scene. They come up with their top tens and we narrow it down to the names that keep coming back to us. It's a very hard decision and that's why there are so many people involved. I personally don't have much say other then to bring everybody together to make the decision. I just play Curator Amen.

Thizzler: And when will the Bay Area Freshmen 10 for 2001 be announced?

Amen: We will be announcing the Freshmen 10 as we did last year on 106KMEL with Big Von on Home Turf. Hopefully around the second week of April. I will be trying to keep people informed via DjAmen.com and my Twitter page (@DjAmen3000), and you'll also be able to find the latest information at Thizzler.com and their Twitter page (@TheThizzler), of course..

Thizzler: What happens after they're announced? Last year you had the Bay Area Freshmen 10 Music Meeting mixtape and a media mixer/meet & greet with the artists, are you going to do that this year?

Amen: Yes, we are going to do everything as we did last year and really try and help these artists get exposure to people who are not up on them yet. That's the beautiful thing about the Freshmen 10, it's very unlikely that everybody will know all ten until they research them and their music after the announcement. We also just made an agreement before this interview that the cool people at Thizzler.com will showcase each of the ten separately for a week at a time on their website! (Laughs)

Thizzler: Ahaha! Dope! Thanks for taking the time to do this interview.

Amen: Yeah buddy!

You can find more information & the latest updates about the Bay Area Freshmen 10 at Thizzler.com and DJAmen.com, and you can place your nominations at Thizzler.com, DJAmen.com and KMEL Hometurf.