Only Empire Now Awards 2025 Recap
On November 8th, the non-profit organization Only Empire Now hosted its 3rd Annual Awards Show at The Garcia Center for the Arts in San Bernardino, California. Its mission is to become the Inland Empire’s equivalent of the GRAMMYs.
Only Empire Now’s two previous awards shows gained recognition from very notable names. GRAMMY-winning producer and Fontana native, Hit-Boy, sent a video message as his family attended to receive his awards in 2023. Former San Bernardino councilman Ben Reynoso attended the past awards shows, alongside GRAMMY-nominated producer Nabeyin (credits: Ye, Travis Scott, J.I.D.).
This year’s award show spotlighted many talents that have graced platforms like Sway In The Morning, No Jumper, and On The Radar, and have also had production on shows like Bel-Air.
Various media platforms, including Inland Wire, IE Community News, G-Nice, ThatsHipHop, and Untapped Hip-Hop, interviewed the nominees on the red carpet. Each nominee received their own plaque with the category for which they were nominated and took a group photo before the show.
The show’s hosts, Anthony Stone and No Jumper’s Tambaurlon, welcomed the crowd and were the MCs for the night. Artists like Kyiema, Cam Archer, and Phantom Thrett performed throughout the night.
Here is the complete list of awards, winners, and nominees. The winners are listed in bold.
Album of the Year sponsored by Clash City
Cam Archer & Nabeyin — Banner Boys
$TVO — 10k
Royaljag — Designer
Kyiema — Hold Me Softly
Dudadamthang — Matured Off Pain
Song of the Year sponsored by Inland Wire
Pak Joko — IE IE
Gelo — Tweaker
Phantom Thrett — The Good Fight
Cam Archer — You Know Ball
Max Owwa — Matcha
RoyalJag — Part Time
Collaboration of the Year sponsored by Ontario Reign
Cam Gnarly, Kayana, and Skywalker Mike — Calling All My Energy
Cam Archer, Curtiss King, Chris Peters, and Nabeyin — You Know Ball
Cam Archer and Persinal — Monster I Became
Eugene O’Neil, Stevie Crooks, and CM McDuff — All My Dogs
TayOneFive and Dudadamthang — Da Chain Hit
Untapped Artist of the Year sponsored by Untapped Hip-Hop
Kyiema
Hollow Spaces
Sohiala
Lady Luxx
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InfiniteTGM
Live Act of the Year sponsored by The Garcia Center
Midnight Snack
Kyiema
Hollow Spaces
Tru-Lee
SayHa!
Producer of the Year sponsored by Claremont Symphony
Oh Gosh Leotus
SMK
Nabeyin
Nick Anton
Geronimo
Instrumental of the Year sponsored by Empire Strykers
SeeFor Yourself & Tash — Attention Is a Drug
Oh Gosh Leotus & Mariah The Scientist — No More Entertainers
RoyalJag — Circles
Nabeyin & Kenyatta — C’est La Vie
Skywalker Mike — Calling All My Energy
Verse of the Year sponsored by Bushfire Kitchen
Cam Archer — Death From Above verse 1
CM McDuff — Golden Opportunity verse 2
Dirty Birdy — Dangerous Daringer verse 2
Lady Lux — Wu Tang Freestyle
SeeFor Yourself — Morning Routine verse 2
Video of the Year sponsored by Vineyard Touring Opera
Cam Archer & A Devon Johnson — Comeback Kids
Sonnie Babble & Daniel Paradise — Black Iced Tea
Pak Joko & Larues View — Chinga La Migra
TayOneFive & Eastside Duce & DB Filmz — F*ck a Wave
Nick Anton & DelaGrimm — Payback
Empire Award, an award recognizing one’s community impact, sponsored by Motivational Realizations
Victor Velazquez from Chubzies Smashburgers
The organization can be found on Instagram @onlyempirenow. Additional information about OEN can be found at itsonlyempire.com.
