Rebel Army Radio is an online hip-hop music station based out of Cleveland, Ohio. The station is Cleveland's first to have a format that plays music entirely by rap artists from the city.
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Background
Rebel Army Radio launched on June 12, 2008. Created by former WRUW-FM programmer Gezus Zaire, Rebel Army Radio became the first music station that features a near complete play list of unsigned artists from Cleveland. Of the more than 100 artists that have had their music played on the station, only Flesh-n-Bone, Krayzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Ray Cash & Bone Thugs-n-Harmony have had major distribution. Nineteen nineties R&B vixen Adina Howard and Wu-Tang Clan affiliated producer Bronze Nazareth can also be heard on the station's only two celebrity drops. Approximately 280 songs are in rotation, giving Rebel Army Radio the largest programmed play list that exclusively features Cleveland artists.
Rebel Army Radio Awards 2008
The Rebel Army Radio Awards took place on December 21, 2008. Eleven trophies were distributed to Cleveland based artists. Unsigned rappers such as Drastic and Nessacary won the Best Male and Female MC Awards respectively. The D.O.C. Showstoppaz was named the Best Female Group while Black Money won the Best Male Group and Song of the Year Awards. The event which featured live performances was covered by the Call and Post newspaper. The Rebel Army Radio Awards is one of three Ohio based hip-hop award shows including, The 419 Underground Music Awards (established in 2009, hosted in Sandusky) and The Ohio Hip-Hop Awards (established in 2006, also hosted in Cleveland). Listed below are the winners at the Rebel Army Radio Awards.
Rebel Army Radio Awards 2009
Rebel Army Radio's second awards show took place on Oct. 24, 2009. A total of 27 trophies were awarded to hip-hop artists from Cleveland. Soul Kryziz won three awards (Best Album, Best Song and Best Lyrical Record). Kayo Alcatraz was awarded Best Male MC and Niki Swaggwell won Best Female MC. The D.O.C. Showstoppaz was the only act to repeat in a category winning Best Female Group. Six awards were given out to "Chart Toppers" whose music performed best on the Rebel Army Radio Chart from June 2008 to June 2009.
Rebel Army Radio Awards 2010
Rebel Army Radio's third awards show was also known as the M.A.C Musik Rebel Army Radio Awards. It was held on Oct. 2, 2010 and 42 awards were distributed to artists, models and an athlete from Cleveland. Nessacary won a record six awards including the Best Female MC award, which she won in 2008. Proph the Problem and Yung Mook won three awards each. The show was broadcast for the first time on RTv (http://www.RTvNATION.com) and distributed by Openfilm (http://www.openfilm.com/dashboard/videos/info/26826).
Rebel Army Radio Awards 2011
Rebel Army Radio's fourth awards show was sponsored by Cleveland rap artists Nina Nicole & Rello B. of Top Shelf Ent. The event was held on Oct. 1, 2011, at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. The night was highlighted by a surprise performance from Flesh-n-Bone of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony who was honored with the Rap Icon Award. It marked the first time that a national rap artist performed at the awards show and was also the first occasion that Flesh-n-Bone ever won an award as a solo artist. The biggest winner of the night was Mz. Crazy Tee who scored five trophies including the Best Female MC. Proph the Problem & D-Bunk were tied with four wins apiece including an award they shared in the Best Male Collab category. Nessacary also won four awards bringing her career total of Rebel Army Radio Awards to 12, which is an all-time high. The show can be watched in its entirety at:
Rebel Army Radio Awards 2012
Rebel Army Radio's fifth awards show was sponsored by Fresh Produce & FPempire.com. It was held at the Grog Shop for the second consecutive year and hosted by Tha P.O.P. aka Mz. Peachiz for the second straight year as well. "Hold Up Wait" by Scratt, J-Bou & Mz. Crazy Tee earned three wins (Best Song, Best Collab and Best Mixed Collab) making it the most celebrated song of the year. Beautiful the Beast repeated as the Best Model winner. Jasmine Chanae won the Best New Model and Best Model Body Awards. Twizted Mind was named Best Male MC and won the Male Chart Topper Awards while Indica Spitts had wins in the Best Female MC and Best Female Lyricist categories. The 2012 show marked the first time that there was a live performance battle in which Doob was crowned the Ultimate Performer. The show can be seen online in three parts at:
Music Chart
With its Cleveland Top Singles chart, Rebel Army Radio weighs the top songs and performers in the city on a monthly basis. The first artist to top the chart twice and in back-to-back months was female rapper Nessacary. She was also the first artist to have three songs in the chart's ten slots in one month. Listed below are the chart toppers of each month.
Ring Tone Chart
As of February 2010 songs that made the Top Ten Singles Chart became downloadable as ringtones. On March 26, Rebel Army Radio began compiling the top five ringtones for each month which started for April 2010. As of October 2010 Rebel Army Radio permanently discontinued this chart.