Vermont Hip Hop Awards Official Ballot

It all comes down to this. Five choices, eleven categories. Voting will be open until midnight on Saturday, January 22nd. There’s a lot to discuss here but we can have that discussion all week long — all that matters this morning is the big reveal, so:

As I mentioned yesterday, the runner-up for this category is a nine-way tie: props to D.FRENCH, Humble, Robscure, SINNN, Subtex, Swank, Teece Luvv, Trono, and Yung Breeze.

Some honorary mentions that were close to making the cut: David Chief, Dokowala, Don Marion, ILLu, JL of Boomslang, Notation, Pro Knows Music, Somba, Stresselbee and Vazy.

The number six spot for this one was a three-way tie between Colby Stiltz, Fattie B, and SVPPLY.

Props to the two tied runners up: newcomers Coyote Reverie and heavyweight crew Street Religion. Right behind them? None other than The Aztext, proof that legends never die.

Some of the other artists getting love this time around: Dot, HAKS 180, Sane, Moka, Boyote, Hurso, Fame and Humble.

In a four-way tie for the number six spot: Bilé, Hakim XOXO, Obi the Voicegod, and Prince LooD. Right behind them were Brazii, Cam Barnes, and Ro$e Gold. And yes, we’re going to be much more meticulous and exacting about the qualifications for this category next year.

This took two notebook pages to sort out, absolutely the biggest spread of the entire nominations round. A couple MVPs who didn’t make the cut: Swank of 99 Neighbors received multiple nominations for no less than six verses off Wherever You’re Going, I Hope It’s Great: 49er, Hazel, Murder Mart, N. Michigan Gospel, Rageless Hope, and Trunk. Freddie Losambe, Jarv and Rivan C. met a similar fate: lots of nominations but no clear agreement on what their best verse was. That’s a good problem to have.

Sixth place was yet another tight spread of tied contenders…well, sort of. In addition to the Cognac Cousins banger “Downtown Brown,” the other four contenders were Konflik for “Dat’s Dat Sh*t,” Konflik for “Float,” 99 Neighbors for “Eastside,” and 99 Neighbors for “N. Michigan Gospel.”

Just two contenders for the runner-up spot here: Yung Breeze for Everybody Hates Chris and Humble’s Electromagnetism.

Four way tie for the runner up spot on another closely contested category: Hakim XOXO for “Smokey,” Jarv for his awesome “Metal Band” collab with Maine rap god Spose, Rivan C. for “Like Woah!” and Teece Luvv for “SHEESH!”

Securing the ballot for this award is quite a co-sign. Huge props — and thanks — to everyone in the running here. Coming in close behind: Robert Ronci aka Es-K, DJ Big Dog, James Lockridge of Big Heavy World, and Zach Crawford aka SkySplitterInk.

That’s that, bud. If you’re part of the voting academy, I sent out the ballot email earlier, so just check your inbox. For the rest of us, well, it’s just a waiting game from here. If you have any questions or concerns, get in touch … or maybe start a discussion in the Vermont Hip Hop Artists Collective.