If there is one night in Atlanta when an aspiring singer or rapper may catch many of the city's music industry powers in one place, it could very well be Thursday night's BMI Unsigned Urban Showcase.
Two years ago, popular rapper and producer T-Pain performed, while music, film and TV star Jazze Pha hosted the annual event.
Last year, the biggest act of 2008 — rapper Lil Wayne — headlined an over-capacity turnout that included Usher, this year's breakout female act, Keri Hilson, along with Johnta Austin, Sean Garrett and the late Def Jam executive Shakir Stewart.
Tonight's showcase is expected to include hip-hop icon Nas, Manny Halley (Keyshia Cole's manager), and Christopher Hicks, who runs the day-to-day operations at Def Jam.
It's all enough to make local BMI Vice President Catherine Brewton as proud as she is anxious about the event she coordinates.
"But I think we will have an amazing night honoring an [unannounced] Atlanta legend, featuring some established and promising talent in a room of people who can really make a difference," Brewton says.
The BMI showcase is high-profile enough that one established hitmaker, Trey Songz, considers it "one of the best tests yet — with so many big people, at one big event — of whether my new album 'Ready' [due in stores June 30] earns the title."
But the pressure of being a contestant hasn't overwhelmed local singer Kameron Corvet. "As an independent artist, I know how hard it is to get to a publishing guy, a label guy, a production guy — in the same building," says Corvet, who will be competing with Ryn Nicole, 718 and Rain.
"You can write your own ticket at something like this."
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