Shane Johnson went home with his first win in three nominations at the VEER Magazine Music Awards last Tuesday.

Johnson, whose stage name is Shane Dollar, took home Hip-Hop Artist of the Year, and it was the only category he appeared in.

“It was kind of a shock,” he said. “I ended up going up against another guy who is on the brink of breaking out. I didn’t anticipate it, and it felt really good. The invited me to perform as well.”

Prior to the awards, Johnson was backing away from being a performer to pursue a passion in the wedding industry. He is currently a disc jockey and has ventured into wedding planning. Winning the VEER award has given Johnson renewed inspiration for hip-hop.

“I never really walked away from hip-hop 100 percent, but this award kind of propelled me to continue to work on an album that I’ll be releasing sometime around June. It gave me more motivation to do that, being recognized,” Johnson said.

Johnson was also performed prior to winning his award.

“I just felt like I finally got some recognition for what I’ve been doing. It was nice being nominated those other times, but it’s so nice to win,” Johnson said. “It’s great to be noticed by those in the industry. The venues, owners and everyone that matters got to vote on this. This propelled me to finish my album and put a little more into it.”