Over the weekend, OffBeat received critique on social media from Kr3wcial on the Best of The Beat Awards. Kr3wcial, is a well-respected local hip-hop artist whom OffBeat has covered in the past and who was nominated for “Best Rap/Hip-Hop/Bounce Artist” and “Best Rap/Hip-Hop/Bounce Album/Mixtape,”  regarding the Best of The Beat™ Awards. Below are images of his post:

Our staff discussed the critique and decided to create this post in response.  

First, we’d like to say we’re responsible for any problems in our awards process and we want to address them. We take the input from the music community very seriously and are open to constructive criticism and suggestions as we strive to improve. The comments from Kr3wcial are very much appreciated—we have nothing but respect for his balanced constructive criticism.

Second, we believe that all our award winners deserve their honors and we have no plans to revoke any of these awards.

And finally, we’d like to clarify a few things about OffBeat’s position as a publication and the decision process for the Best of The Beat™ Awards.

OffBeat is New Orleans’ longest-running and most respected independent music and culture publication. Being independent has given us many opportunities to cover the city’s music scene in ways other local publications do not. OffBeat was the first publication in the city to embrace hip-hop as a definitive New Orleans genre, extending our platform via cover stories, news and album reviews. We are always open to musical artists and their representatives of all genres, and we try to accommodate all types of music.  We always have and we always will, because the music scene constantly changes. Anyone is welcome to critique OffBeat, but at the same time, bitching about something that needs change in attack mode is the norm on social media. But offering constructive criticism on how to make the changes is not the norm, and it is enormously refreshing. It shows our readers and community is paying attention to how and what we cover, and they are providing us with welcome feedback. So we thank Kr3wcial for coming forward.

Any artist making music in New Orleans or Louisiana can be nominated. We are cognizant of inevitable shortcomings as we try to portray the rich music scene in New Orleans. In no way do we want to excuse any errors. Our core team is quite small but includes contributors and photographers involved in the New Orleans and Louisiana music scene.

The voting process seeks nominations from our contributors and trusted people in the music community. We take care not to include (but not necessarily eliminate) nominee suggestions from managers, club owners, etc., as many of these folks have a vested interest in nominating the musicians they book or represent—and we try to avoid conflicts of interest. Our entire team determines the final nominations. We take the process very seriously, and the lengthy vetting process takes weeks to solidify. 

All musicians, bands, their representatives, anyone in the music community— as well as fans, local and outside the city— can vote for winners from the list of nominees. This gives the musicians (or anyone who’s involved in the nominating process) the ability to vote and also the ability to encourage their fans to cast their votes, as the majority vote determines the winners.

We found some interesting trends this year. Several musicians told us they were not aware they had been nominated, which is surprising as we published the nominees in the first week of October. We also promoted voting many times for many weeks before the voting deadline. OffBeat’s news coverage is available online for free and subscriptions to monthly in-depth issues are also available at OffBeat.com. OffBeat‘s awards and news are announced on social media summarized in our newsletter, the Weekly Beat (it’s free to sign up). 

This process benefits nominees, who then can reach out to their fans and supporters to vote for them. OffBeat publishes the ballot. It’s up to the nominees to help to get the word out to potential voters who will support their nomination with a “win.” OffBeat does not promote voting for any nominee individually, but we do market and promote voting overall. Artists certainly would have received more votes after recruiting their fanbase to support their nomination. With that said, we recognize that occasionally errors are made in the nomination process that need to be addressed.

Another issue is that we condensed categories from two or three into one this year. This year, we were transitioning back into our usual Best of The Beat™ event, as last year was canceled due to COVID and our financial position. We did not have the staffing or sponsorship to do the event at that time. This year, we were fortunate enough to produce the event due to the support from the Herb Alpert Foundation via the New Orleans Jazz Museum, which gave the Best of The Beat™ viability in 2022 (however, neither the Herb Alpert Foundation nor the New Orleans Jazz Museum took part in determining the list of nominees). The next time we have another Best of The Beat™ event, we’ll take a serious look at expanding our categories.

We are working on a plan for the following Best of The Beat™ voting and event. We don’t want to make false promises. Action matters more. We hear feedback and are pondering options for making our awards representative. Another idea we are considering is reimplementing a cap on consecutive winners.

We’d also like to open the floor to community members as sources for nomination and a possible advisory board to craft future editorial content. If you are interested in participating, please email our publisher, Jan Ramsey, and we also request that you include your credentials for inclusion on such a board.

An immediate action we’d like to take is to expand our coverage. Let us know if you are an artist with a new album, a tour, or a special performance. We also have options you can use to help to promote your efforts. If you are a writer/photographer established in a specific genre, hit us up! We need new, young voices to contribute to OffBeat’s future editorial. We endeavor to feature a variety of artistic voices in OffBeat.

The music that falls under the New Orleans and Louisiana cultural umbrella continues to expand and change, which is inevitable and a good thing. We will continue to do our best to be your definitive source of Louisiana music and culture. We need your engagement, feedback, encouragement and support to continue our mission.

—Jan Ramsey with Dalton Spangler