When the 35th annual Boston Music Awards take the stage at the Big Night Live in the North End on Dec. 14, three new categories will recognize a variety of musical talents that call Boston home.
Among the new categories this year are awards for Spoken Word Artist of the Year, Latin Artist of the Year and Reggae/Ska Artist of the Year. They join longstanding categories such as New Artist of the Year, Alt/Indie Artist of the Year and Hip-Hop Artist of the Year. Each new category has ten nominees from across New England.
For artists like Amanda Shea , nominated for Spoken Word Artist of the Year alongside Boston Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola, these new award designations are long-awaited. “It’s overdue, but so important,” Shea said. “I don’t think people knew how much, on a local level, that poets were collaborating with rappers and musicians and R&B artists [...] we are utilized a lot for our voices, because it’s our instrument.”
Shea emphasizes the importance of recognizing the connection between poetry and music. “Before some of your favorite rappers were rappers, they were poets," she said. "I think that’s why it’s super important to not only, like, highlight and amplify the work that spoken artists in the city are doing and beyond, but also understanding, like, we are an artistic form.”
Having worked with more than 30 local artists on spoken word and rap features, Shea firmly believes in the Boston artistic community. “I just see, like, a camaraderie. Everybody is just trying to uplift one another and collab with one another.”
Musician and non-profit director Veronica Robles is nominated for Latin Artist of the Year. Robles grew up in Mexico, but has called Boston home since the early 2000s. Robles founded New England’s first all-female Mariachi band as well as the Veronica Robles Cultural Center , dedicated to promoting traditional Latin American arts and cultures for Boston residents through dance and music.
“You find connections with your heart. You find your community, and that’s where your home is. And so, again, I feel with these types of opportunities, I feel more a part of this state, this city, and also the artist community,” she said about finding a home in Boston.
Learning about the nomination early was an exciting accident — a sound engineer friend who was voting in the Boston Music Awards told her she was nominated in the new category.
"I've been working so hard for over 24 years to make sure that people get to know my genre and also to try to elevate it to the mainstream entertainment."-Veronica Robles, nominee for Latin Artist of the Year
“I was actually surprised because, you know, [the] mariachi genre is not something that you expect to see in this kind of awards or recognition, especially in this region," she said. "And I’ve been working so hard for over 24 years to make sure that people get to know my genre and also to try to elevate it to the mainstream entertainment.”
Robles hopes that the recent addition of Latin Artist of the Year to the 35-year tradition is just the beginning of recognition for Boston's Latin music community.
“I will probably ask them [the awards] to do a little bit more promotion with the Latinos," she said. "I think it would be important for us, for our community, to know that they exist.”
Reggae/Ska Artist of the Year nominee Buddahfly is a self-described “conscious hip-hop/Reggae/rock group” based out of the South Shore. Buddahfly guitarist Will Glass said that being nominated “was just a huge surprise for us. ... We’re very humble about it and we’re just grateful to kind of be acknowledged. And that in itself, I think, is better than any award we could win, just having the nomination.”
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This year, Buddahfly played more shows than ever before. They are excited that the BMAs will be a culmination of that work.
“We haven’t released a lot of our music, unfortunately. So to have that type of reaction from everybody and to get that kind of, like, potential accolade with [a] limited amount of music out there” is important for the band, said vocalist and rhythm guitarist Brandon Lynch.
Lynch says that the addition of a Reggae/Ska category to the Boston Music Awards is a sign of the genre’s growing popularity within the mainstream. “That’s what I grew up on," he said. "It seems like in the last ten years, the whole Reggae/ska [genre] has kind of come to more of a head. So it’s nice to have the local recognition.”
Glass also praised the other groups nominated within the category, which include The Elovaters and Soul Rebel Project . “Those are bands that we totally look up to and we, you know, respect how hard they’ve worked and all the stuff that they’ve done to become national touring acts.”
In an email to GBH News Paul Armstrong, the Chief Executive Officer of Redefined, which produces the Boston Music Awards, said these new categories are reflective of how Boston's music scene has changed over the years.
"Since Redefined took over the awards in 2016, we've added various new categories to keep up with the ever expanding music scene. We've listened to the music community and taken actions based on suggestions and feedback," Armstrong said. "From journalist of the year, live music photographer of the year, videographer of the year, and more. The new awards this year continue this trend."
The Boston Music Awards are Dec. 14, at Big Night Live. In addition to announcing the winners of the 2022 awards, there will also be performances from nominees such as Alisa Amador, The Q-Tip Bandits, and Salem Wolves.
Editor's note: This story was updated to include the comment from Paul Armstrong.
