05/17/2026
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That 2000-2010’ish era in southern rap was so prime…
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I remember 2006 Ozone Awards weekend in Orlando blowing my mind! I roomed with Ron White at a hotel right across the street. The flight was 59.00 each way and it only took like an hour total to get there. The days…
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Everybody was there rubbing elbows…Slip ‘N Slide, Rick Ross, Cool & Dre, Pitbull, Grand Hustle, David Banner, Killer Mike, Ball & G, UGK, Jeezy, Cash Money. And these were just the major indies. The whole South was there puttin’ on…it was crazy!
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We would get blowed during listening sessions in different suites. Blowed! In my opinion, aside from the networking, the listening sessions were what made the weekend so special.
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I will always remember this time as a pivotal moment in the shaping of southern rap. Well, music period…but definitely southern rap music. Would we still be at this level without it? Hard to say yes or no…but it was most definitely heavily influential.
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Looking around, there is documentation spread out here among several hard drives. I’m gonna take some time to find things to share. It was the younger me, so judgement-free zone me, please. I would do it all again…
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Plus the phone I had during that time was probably a RAZR 😂 so the video and photo quality was not the best. I actually still have that phone but it’s difficult to power up and access files.
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We will see what happens though. Stay tuned…
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