Austin-based rapper George VonDoom held his first Austin Hip Hop Awards show in 2008 with funds out of his own pocket.
It largely remained a solo mission in the years following, a one-man effort to give overlooked artists more exposure – and something to look forward to – in the disconnected local hip-hop scene.
“I remember when I started this I knew of so many people that were on the Eastside instead of on the Westside,” the artist, born George Corbin, says. “So they would mention your Phranchyzes, Leagues, and MC Overlords. Rest in Peace to Overlord. But I also knew about your Gutta Gangs, Above All Entertainments, and your Black Diamonds. I’ve seen [those] people in publications, but these guys over here [were] hungry.
“That’s the goal: to make sure everybody is recognized. From your Gary Clark Jr.s all the way down to your TPTs. There’s a gap there because we all know who Gary Clark Jr. is, but you may not know who TPT is.”
This Saturday, the Austin Hip Hop Awards returns for its 11th edition, ending a five-year, pandemic-induced hiatus.
Malcolm “CasinoATX” Richardson, a former member of Gutta Gang who won a 2008 Austin Hip-Hop Award with the group, convinced VonDoom to bring back the ceremony after he moved to Dallas and realized how little Austin’s hip-hop scene is celebrated in comparison to scenes in other Texas cities. Now living in Austin once again, Richardson says he’s evenly splitting the costs of the 2025 event with VonDoom (the show has one “hard sponsor”).
The rap veteran of 25-plus years cites two main reasons behind his desire to help bring the awards back: to provide a platform for the scene to award itself, and to help educate younger MCs on the city’s hip-hop history.
“At my height, which I would say [was] from ‘05 to ‘08, we had a great, really cohesive scene where you could go out any night of the week and there was something,” Richardson says from his North Austin recording studio. “That kind of disintegrated some years later for a lot of reasons. So our whole thing is, how do we breathe life back into that … where it’s a really fostered scene that’s getting a lot of love and getting some recognition?”
This year’s awards show, a suit-and-tie affair occurring for the third time at Sixth Street venue Vulcan Gas Company, highlights 10 categories, including Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, and Performer of the Year, for efforts released between December 2023 and December 2024. The organizers outline a meticulous nomination process for the awards: A seven-person panel – which does not include VonDoom or Richardson – selected the nominees, though the duo filled in gaps on ballots when necessary. Winners are community-decided by votes through the show’s website.
Richardson looks to the Recording Academy’s recent efforts to diversify the Grammys as inspiration to widen their panel’s net for future shows, and says that while he is affiliated with Performer of the Year nominees College of Hip Hop Knowledge, he won’t perform with them this weekend as a way “to show that [CHHK] operates without me.” To further quell potential concerns of bias, active panelists were not allowed to nominate themselves in any category. No one from Richardson’s production crew received an official nomination either, he points out.
The awards bring a crop of unexpected performers to the sizable Vulcan Gas Company stage, including dynamic talent Anastasia Hera, rapper LiljayfromdaO, R&B upstart Zoe Gabriel, and VonDoom himself, playing as part of Voultron. Save for CHHK, Hera, and Gabriel, VonDoom organically discovered the performers by either hearing them while working his full-time private security gig or at a show he attended.
Hera, a three-time winner of Female Performer of the Year before the performer categories were integrated, is nominated for Album of the Year (Way Outside) and Artist of the Year. Also a repeat performer at the event over the years, Hera applauds VonDoom’s “dedication to the game and genre.”
“You’ve got this unit that wants to be a beacon,” she says. “You have a voice – you can vote too. Sometimes we feel like the doors are closed to us because of our genre. And with the Austin Hip Hop Awards, the door is open.”
For VonDoom, there’s another sentiment fueling his renewed passion for the awards: a desire to push the culture forward without drama. He claims there’s never been a fight at an Austin Hip Hop Awards show and takes pride in the fact people who he’s had “legitimate street beefs” with can put that aside for a night to celebrate the local hip-hop community under a shared roof.
Also, the heavily emphasized dress code isn’t a gimmick. “Why not put on your Sunday best to come in and look the best you can look, feel elegant, and talk as much shit as you can talk?” VonDoom says, wearing an audacious gold silk tie featuring an excerpt of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. “Even if you didn’t do anything, it makes you feel more accomplished for the day.”
The numbers-conscious Richardson runs two businesses – his recording studio and Texas Smoke Connection, a smoke shop that’ll soon rebrand to High Flyers Club – so he naturally views breaking even as a successful return for the event. On the other hand, making his money back isn’t the be-all and end-all for VonDoom. He says he puts in an estimated seven hours daily working on the event; there was even a year he personally cooked all the catering himself. Through performances, an educational panel, and chef-prepared food (for those who spring for $45 plated tickets; non-plated ones go for $30), he hopes people from the music industry and general public alike will become repeat participants in some capacity going forward.
“My main thing is having a house of people that aren’t ours – just have the people come out and see what’s here,” he says. “‘Cause if we’re going to be honest, about the whole time I’ve been doing this, I’ve never profited more than a hundred dollars. Not once.”
The Austin Hip Hop Awards take place at Vulcan Gas Company on Feb. 22. Tickets are on sale now.
This article appears in February 14 • 2025.
