Artists from all over Missouri felt the excitement and adrenaline as they rehearsed their performances for the very first All Missouri Music Awards (AMMA) on the Kansas City Scottish Rite Temple’s lit up stage.

The program, held on Sat., July 17, recognized local artists for their music.

Hosted by From the Bottom Entertainment and One Voice Radio, the ceremony featured performances by some of the nominees and ended the night with an afterparty featuring R&B singer Eric Bellinger.

In the months leading up to the ceremony, the AMMAs allowed fans to nominate artists in 14 different categories such as Best Male Vocals, Best Female Rapper and Best Gospel. The categories of nominees included all genres of music including hip hop, rock, country and R&B.

Elyshya Miller, owner of One Voice Radio said she is more than happy with the outcome of the very first AMMA ceremony.

“Just to see all the people who said they never thought they would have been nominated, just to have that reaction from folks was self-gratifying,” Miller said. “That just warmed my soul to see people saying ‘you guys took the time to think about us.’ And in reality, it wasn’t even us. They just put out really good music and their fans voted for them.”

She said there were some nominees who have only been making music for a couple months, but they made it to the top five in their category.

“They put out good quality music, and they had a base of people that believed in what they were doing,” Miller said. “We just want to make sure that we have something every year to recognize the people in this state who are putting out good music.”

Miller and From the Bottom Entertainment are already planning the next AMMA, which will take place in St. Louis. Each year, they plan to rotate the ceremony between the state’s two major cities.

Meet the Winners

Willis Blount – Best Gospel

Willis Blount, from Kansas City, KS considers himself an urban contemporary gospel artist, but has branched out and collaborated with R&B artists and rappers.

At the AMMAs, he performed an original piece for the first time that he wrote when he was 16 years old called, “He Did It.”

“I’m just happy to be amongst some great artists here,” Blount said. “A lot of times, artists have their noses stuck up in the air and I didn’t see that tonight.”

Jay Welch – Best Male Rapper

Originally from Kansas City, Jay Welch is a rapper, singer and producer and has been writing music since he was a young child.

“Music was healing for me,” Welch said. “Even being a foster child, not having nobody to vent to, I would just write it out and just get it off my chest.”

“I listen to music that helps me. If I can provide that for somebody, that’s good enough for me. At the end of the day healing and bringing change, that’s the main focus,” he said.

Dehe Miah – Best Male R&B 

Dehe Miah Price became interested in music when he watched Michael Jackson perform on television. From there, it became a passion for him.

Price has been recording as a singer since he was 13 years old, but has just began pursuing his R&B singing career this past last year.

At the AMMAs, he performed a sneak peak of two songs that will be released in the next couple weeks, called “Goddess” and “Seductive Goddess.”

Other Winners:

Best Gospel – Willis Blount

Best Battle Rap – Morwasha

Best Female Hip-Hop – Miss Kush

Best Rock – Forever Faded

Best Female R&B – Santina Vega  

Best Male R&B – Dehe Miah

Best Videographer – Mogul

Best Producer – Tim Sheperd

Best Country – Jack Clemens & Whiskey for the Lady

Best Male Rap – Jay Welch

Best DJ – DJ Fuji

Best Jazz – Da Truth Band and Pure Sweetness

Best Song Writer – Bailey Parker

Best Single of the Year – Gurl Gang for their single, “Single Gurl Gang”