Southern rap journal Ozone magazine announced today it will hold its third annual Ozone Awards and the accompanying TJ's DJ's Tastemakers Only DJ conference at the George R. Brown Convention Center from August 8-11, which makes two major music-industry events to come calling this year; the ninth annual Latin Grammy Awards are scheduled for November 13 at Toyota Center.
Besides Ozone founder/publisher Julia Beverly and TJ's founder/CEO Thomas "TJ" Chapman, performers and speakers have yet to be announced. However, registration, lodging and other information is here.
Before he moved to Austin, HoustonSoReal blogger and Press contributor Matt Sonzala covered last year's goings-on in Miami. "Maybe marketing itself is hip-hop's newest genre," he wrote. "In corporate boardrooms and the wrapped vans of those who wish to one day enter those corporate boardrooms, hip-hop is merely a sales pitch. 'These guys don't give a damn about the music anymore, or making great albums, they just want to sell ringtones,' one guy passing outside the Media panel remarked."