MIC Awards (a/k/a Boston Hip-Hop Awards) Return in 2010. Who Will Have The Best Interruption?

The Mass Industry Committee (MIC) doesn’t mind that throwing Boston music award shows is more thankless than drumming. Nor do they anguish over criticism that their first two MIC Awards played favorites. Last week, committee organizers voted to ignore naysayer player haters and announced plans for a third gala in four years.

“This year we’re doing more of a people’s choice type of award show,” according to MIC spokesman Daneja, who says the ceremony will soon return to John Hancock Hall in Back Bay with added dimensions. “This time we’ll be honoring everyone from rappers and dancers to professional athletes.”

The MIC Awards is hip-hop community service for organizers Daneja, Irv, Lyrical, and Big Hek, who work 40-hour weeks in the months before shows, and who barely recoup the event’s $15,000 price tag.

“I’m the biggest believer that there’s too much talent in Boston that doesn’t get exposure,” says Daneja. “A lot of Boston artists are famous in other cities and even other countries, but since local rappers aren’t on JAM’N 94.5 all day people down the street have never heard of them.”

DJ On&On, who hosts JAM’N 94.5’s only regional hip-hop show, The Launchpad, agrees to disagree: “Their heart is in the right place,” he says. “But even though the talent base and quality of music is better now than when the awards first started, the infrastructure still isn’t here yet.”

Despite the overall success of the first two MIC Awards, there were apparent flaws. The 2006 show lasted nearly five hours, with nothing but Red Bull available for thirsty fans and artists. In 2007, despite significant improvements, certain acts performed long and tedious sets.

As for the suggestion that MIC officials favor certain segments of the local rap scene; Daneja says the award show - as well as the MIC’s weekly Comcast program, 617 Live - is an effort to correct myopic views that may cause such perceptions. In reality, he says, more than 50,000 on line voters chose the winners in 2007.

“Of course we’re getting better every time and learning from our mistakes,” says Daneja. “But the most important thing we do is watch the whole scene. We keep an eye out in order to motivate everyone with the success of guys like Slaine and J. Cardim.”

“God bless Daneja,” says On&On, who has bagged two MIC awards himself. “But in a way having a Boston hip-hop award show is like rewarding your kid for doing a half-assed job.”