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When you tweet at  the person responding isn’t an assistant or someone from the record label’s social media team, it’s the man himself, Ne-Yo. Must Watch: Ne-Yo Reveals Secret To Writing Songs For Women [EXCLUSIVE VIDEO] The singer-songwriter, actor, philanthropist and record executive is the Shine Award winner for “Most Connected ” because with 2.7 million followers […]

Tony Shellman knows style. In fact he’s so adept at forecasting trends that he helped pioneer the urban fashion boom of the ’90s with clothing brands Mecca USA and ENYCE (launched in 1994 and 1996 respectively). The two brands he co-founded helped to pave the way for the Sean Johns and Rocawears of the world […]

In the entertainment game it’s all about who you know. Combine fruitful relationships with influential people with hard work and you have a recipe for certain success. Music industry insider Karen Civil knows this first hand. Beginning her career as a young assistant to popular DJ and on-air personality Funkmaster Flex in the early aughts, […]

In the subculture of underground rap battles people take themselves very seriously. Engaging their war of words the combatants get theatrical and hit below the belt whenever possible. (By now you’ve probably seen Loaded Lux deliver “that work.”) But a scene that is that serious leaves itself wide open to parody. Enter Deshawn Raw. His […]

Newark mayor Corey Booker is a true man of the people who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty (or burned) and that’s why he gets the Shine Award for Most Talked About. Whether he was interacting with his constituents on Twitter or literally saving citizens from burning buildings, Booker stayed in the news for […]

To stand out, to be successful, to truly shine in one’s field it takes not only talent but equal amounts of perseverance and persistence. Filmmaker Matthew A. Cherry, the winner of our Best New Talent award, knows this first hand. Cherry’s atypical career path took him from the gridiron where he spent three years as […]