Video games are no longer the waste of time your parents always claimed they were, and finally, awards shows, like the NAACP Image Awards, are recognizing that.
Gerard Williams, aka HipHopGamer, is one of the five well-known Black content creators in the gaming industry who were nominated in several digital content categories at the NAACP Image Awards.
He joins Berlin Edmond Jr., Cory Kenshin, Jay-Ann Lopez, and Khleo Thomas vying for the inaugural Outstanding Digital Content Creator – Gaming/Tech award, as the NAACP Image Awards kicks off a three-day stream of its virtual awards portion that began on Monday at 8 PM.
HipHopGamer Says NAACP Needs To Be A Part of The Gaming Conversation
Speaking exclusively with Variety, HipHopGamer spoke on the awards show finally getting into gaming
“So I personally spoke with Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP Image Awards, and he said it clear as day. He said, yo, look, let me tell you right now, we wanted to open up this category — because he realizes that there’s a lot of people, there’s a lot of minorities, there’s a lot of Black people, period, that’s also in this area that we need to reach out to, that we need to talk to.
He continued, “And the only way that’s going to happen is we got to meet them where they are. So it was ideal to open up this category for the 57th NAACP Image Award. So that’s one of the reasons why they opened it, and also they understand the power of gaming and tech, AI, where everything is going. They need to be a part of that conversation as well, so they can have a lot of opportunity in the space, too.”
HipHopGamer Talks About The Moment He Found He Was Nominated
Williams, who was introduced to video games by his late grandmother in Brooklyn, has since become one of the most prominent voices in the gaming industry, breaking major gaming-related news and creating life-changing programs around video games, and touched on getting the nomination.
“Being nominated for the first time ever that this category even exists — just this moment alone, it makes me just go right back to grandma when I was four years old,” he said. “That kid spirit just comes right out saying it was an honor. I was actually in a hotel in Vegas for something else, and I got the email. I was jumping on the bed. It was crazy. It was very overwhelming.”
HipHopGamer Admits He Experienced Racism Early In His Career
While the gaming industry has made great strides regarding inclusion, that wasn’t always the case when HipHopGamer first came on the scene, telling the website he experienced racism in the past, but didn’t let that stop his grind.
“I got this big championship belt on me. I’m from East New York, Brooklyn, and I don’t code switch, meaning that I’m me wherever I go. This is what you get, but I know my stuff,” Williams said. “The way it was 15-20 years ago, oh my gosh, listen — it was bad. One of the reasons why I learned business so much so fast within the gaming industry is because I was met with racism, too. It’s crazy.”
He continued, “But one thing about me, I don’t complain, I create. Period. Because you can get caught up in all of that racist stuff and be all mad, and then at the end of the day, you can only control what you can control. And if you allow the negativity to control your energy, then you become what you hate.”
HipHopGamer is one of the reasons we do what we do at HHW Gaming. Good luck, Williams, and everyone else nominated in the category.
Gamers showed HipHopGamer plenty of love following the interview going live; you can see those reactions below.
