The Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards (OEAAs) are an annual awards ceremony celebrating and recognizing the best of Omaha’s music, visual arts, and performance arts. Say Hey There is honored to present profiles on each of the 2015 Best Hip Hop/Rap nominees. Each artist or group spokesperson was asked the same series of questions in order to portray an honest profile of the music, the person or people behind the music, and what sets each apart from their peers. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on February 15, 2015 at the Downtown Omaha DoubleTree. Learn More »

Who

Jesse Latham / Shook On3 / Emcee

Nomination

Best Hip Hop/Rap

Behind the Scenes

Latham: I’m the outcome of someone who took a shot and saw what sacrifices could provide and it worked out for me. I used to be a pro-gamer, and I got to travel the whole country for free because of it and be on national TV. And I carried on with music too. I learned at a young age that if you bust your ass and make sacrifices, there’s no way you can’t make it.

One of my biggest influences is Tag Team, because the very first hip hop song I heard was “Whoomp! (There it Is)” on Sweet 98.5 with Casey Kasem. My parents have influenced a lot. I got into music, and my dad hates rap, but he comes and stands in the front row. Valdez Mac (Vishus Imagery), Danny Che, and Galvanized-Tron are all influential to me.

Sounds Like

Latham: Hungry.

What Makes Him Different

Latham: No matter what the reward or risk is, I always just stand up and fight for what I believe in. It’s how I was raised. I’m always the guy who says something if there’s a problem. I have no tolerance outside of being genuine, being myself.

Deserves it Because

Latham: I give more back to the community than anybody else. I just did a kickball tournament for autism with Helping Hands. Every home run that was kicked, twenty dollars got donated. I’m the only artist in Omaha doing free shows, asking people to bring canned food for the Food Bank for the Heartland in place of a cover charge.