This past December, WDYU mastermind Trav invited SD to be a panelist for their year-end awards, and SD (along with 8 other contributors) provided nominations for the categories that would be awarded when the list was published.
After wrestling with his "conscience" (such as it is), Storm submitted his albums and artists with as little a degree of bias as possible (that is, without listing a single release by self or Poorly Drawn People, save for naming Dox's "Buying Back Your Past" on his subjective-by-definition list of Top 10 Favorite Songs of 2007).***
On January 14, 2008, Wake Your Daughter Up unveiled its Second Annual WYDU Awards. Despite Storm's lack of tampering with the voting process, PDP made out quite fine, appearing on the positive side of multiple categories:
Storm Davis was named twice on the Top 100 Songs of 2007 - "Bethany" (produced by Entity) at #85, "Kegstand Poetry" (produced by Dox) at #25.
Kegstand Poetry (the album) was named as one of 3 to receive Trav's Late Pass Award (given to records released the previous year that slipped through the cracks).
Poorly Drawn People's Nothing Stays Gold mixtape received an Honorable Mention in the Best Mixtape category, losing out to Mick Boogie & Little Brother's And Justus For All.
You can view the full listing of winners and charts here. Selected write-ups are published below for your convenience.
Big ups to Trav and all of the WYDU mind squad for the support. Check out the rest of their excellent work while you're over there.
Top 100 Songs of 2007
85. Storm Davis of Poorly Drawn People - Bethany (from Nothing Stays Gold)
Storm Davis is another example of an artist that I enjoy because I can relate to his subject matter. Storm released his "Kegstand Poetry for the Recovering Alcoholic" in 2006, but I didn't discover the music until earlier this year, thanks to Krooked over at HHB. This track might be a little "emo" in nature, but I've never been one to shy away from that. A lovely piano sample accompanies Storm as he displays a tightened up flow about a girl, of course. I look forward to hearing more from Storm in the coming year and I'm sure I'll be pimping his music to the rest of you.
http://www.myspace.com/stormdavis
25. Storm Davis - Kegstand Poetry (from Kegstand Poetry for the Recovering Alcoholic)
How can you not like someone who took their name from a 1980's major league pitcher? Alright, most likely, 90% of you don't know who the original Storm Davis was, but don't make that same mistake twice. The hip hop version of Storm Davis is a New England MC that released his creatively entitled "Kegstand Peotry for the Recovering Alcoholic" (one of the best names for an album ever) in 2006. Like Rip Van Winkle, I was fast asleep on it until a blog posted the album up in May of '07. On the strength of the name alone and Krooked giving it his approval, I downloaded the album. It would become my second favorite album of the year that wasn't released in the year 2007 (Juggaknots take home the first place prize, being mentioned as first on my blog). The anchor song for the album would "Kegstand Poetry", a fun sing-a-long song that would be great in any karaoke bar after nine to ten cold frosty ones. There were multiple nights this past year that I would be singing at the top of my lungs along with this song in my apartment after a trip to the bars. Would have liked to seen this released as a single or further up in the track listing and this could have been every drunken b-boy's theme song.
Trav's Late Pass Award: Favorite Albums From the Past Couple Years That I Discovered This Year
2. Storm Davis - Kegstand Poetry for the Recovering Alcoholic
I downloaded this earlier in the year strictly off the fact the dude took his name from an old 80's Major League Baseball pitcher I used to like. I also think Krooked from HHB gave it the seal of approval as well. I ended up liking it so much that I tracked it down as a used copy at a local CD store (sorry Storm, hopefully the press this year made up for it...haha). Armed with a cool voice and subject matter that was easy for me to relate to, Storm Davis dropped the soundtrack of my summer with the track "Kegstand Poetry" along with other quality tracks. Now I'm just waiting for the new album...dammit!
***Full Disclosure Regarding Favoritism:
SD may have abstained from self-specific promotion, but friends and collaborators were a different story altogether: Storm nominated Prolyphic's Times Table Scraps for the category of Best Lost & Found / Unreleased Album of the Year; and Jon Hope & Statik Selektah's The Audacity for both Best Mixtape and Best Free Album. Alas, the Kegstand Poet's influence was less than impressive; neither release made the cut for the final awards. But you should still seek them out and give a listen.
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