Contributed

Pictured from left to right: S.L. Flowers, Tony Charles and D-Rocca of Hamlet.

slideshow

Two local rap artists from Hamlet won awards at the 3rd annual Independent Artist Music Awards held at the Seabrook Auditorium on the Fayetteville State University campus on Nov. 20.

Devell Jackson, or “D-Rocca,” received the Best Male Artist Solo award for his performance. Hamlet resident Shung Flowers, or “S.L. Flowers,” won Producer of the Year. There were 15 categories, including best country, best rock, best jazz and best gospel performances.

“I was also nominated for Best New Artist,” said Jackson. “But that was given to an artist by the name of ‘J Bless.’ Germora Morse of Mozilla Artist Development and Fati Brown of Triple Nickel did a lot of the leg work behind the scenes.”

Artists are voted for online at www.independentartistmusicawards.com.

“The guy who put it all together is Tony Charles,” said Jackson. “Voting for the next 4th annual IAMA begins in June and ends in October. The actual awards ceremony is in November. The winners are determined by the amount of votes, which is why Morse gets most of the credit, because she was like our campaign manager the entire time, getting people to start voting as early as June. The motto Charles uses is ‘Before they were major artists, they were Independent artists.’”

“S.L. Flowers is the manager at the McDonald’s inside Walmart,” said Jackson. “He is the CEO of Dreedboys Entertainment, head coach of the little league basketball team in Hamlet, and he is the father of Richmond Raider starting quarterback Brenton Flowers.”

Jackson just published his second book, “Good Cookies,” which can be purchased at lulu.com, along with his first book, “Monkeys Can’t Sell Bananas.” He also released a mixed tape entitled “Just 4 Her.”

“I decided to put something out for my ladies,” said Jackson. “That album can be found online at Datpiff.com. I realize that without the support we received from everyone, we would not have won, so I would like to thank Mozilla, O da Kid, Kcool Finga, Fama Ent, C-Rokka, Dreedboys, House of Fish and Sporty’s Bar and Grill for giving us a place to showcase our talents locally. We spent many nights there rehearsing.”

For booking information, or to purchase copies of the books or mixed tape, go to www.facebook.com/RoccOut or www.facebook.com/mobettabooks and www.facebook.com/lomar.flowers.

— Staff Writer Dawn M. Kurry can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 43, or by email at dkurry@heartlandpublications.com.