Save Your Soul (Music)

The San Diego Music Awards are still a few months away, but some local artists and fans have already started organizing to shake things up. Various artists from the soul music community have recently begun a petition to add R&B/soul music as a genre on the SDMA ballot this year.

You can sign the petition electronically here.

In past years, the SDMA's has stirred controversy, especially in the local hip-hop community. Hip-hop artists and fans felt that the best music in their scene was not being represented accurately by the committee that presides over the SDMA. Many felt that the members of the San Diego Music Foundation, the organization that puts on the SDMA, was disconnected from the hip-hop scene. And now, on closer inspection, it turns out that R&B/soul music artists weren't being represented at all. It's amazing that this entire genre has been glossed over for 20 years  by the SDMA.

After last year's uproar from the hip-hop community, the foundation responded by adding two active representatives of that community onto the voting board (full disclaimer: One of those representatives was me). Hopefully, with enough support for this petition, the San Diego Music Foundation will respond to the soul music artists and fans and add R&B/soul music to the SDMA.

The San Diego Music Awards takes place on Aug. 8 at Humphreys By the Bay. You can find more info at the SDMA website.

Quan Vu Quan Vu is the founder and editor of local music blog SD Raps.com. He has also written about local and national hip-hop acts for San Diego CityBeat and the San Diego Reader. You can nerd out on rap trivia by following him on Twitter or e-mailing him directly.

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