North Ave Jax and Conswank on set for the “Wrong Choices” video shoot. Music videos used to be rare around here. Especially good ones. Since the dot com launched in 2018, top quality music videos for 802 hip hop songs have become almost routine. This cultural transformation has been driven by remarkably few people. We're only talking about a dozen or two operators making it all happen, whether as solo auteurs (word to Sammy Chan TV) or small teams (word to Holy Smokes). One of the beauties of having a small scene is the fact anyone with talent & a work ethic can make a big difference. Gut ..read more

In yesterday’s ROUNDUP jonker, we went through a year’s worth of Bandcamp highlights. Today, it’s just wall to wall bangers. Almost all of these songs got multiple nominations in this year’s Vermont Hip Hop Awards. It was awesome to see how many of you make it a point to really check other artists out — and give them props, too. It’s not just closed circles bigging up their buddies anymore. Thank you all for making that happen. Funky Diabetic - Biggie's Smoke ft. Shorty Bang & Yung Breeze Biggie's Smoke (ft. Shorty Bang, Yung Breeze) by The Funky Diabetic, Shorty Bang, Yung Breeze Young e ..read more

After a long hiatus in 2023, there is a ton of music to catch up on, so we’ll be doing ROUNDUP drops all week. First, though, let’s cruise through some gems available on Bandcamp, one of the best tools independent musicians have in our modern shitshow. Some of these are brand new; some of these dropped last year and simply never got the respect they deserved. Kinetic Fource - This Is Dedicated (Feat. DJ Kanga) Kinetic Fource by Kinetic Fource Kinetic Fource was a wild moment in time, a legitimate 802 supergroup consisting of Learic, Rico James, and the Boomslang team of Sed One and JL (Foreve ..read more

Ladies and gentlemen, it is time once again. I never could have predicted many of these results, and that's because it was driven by voters, whether new artists or seasoned veterans, whether Burlington-based or building their own scene in the boonies, acknowledging artists outside of their circle, their scene. I could not be more proud of you. This was decided by 107 out of 164 eligible voters. Despite the growing size of the jury, we actually lost a single percentage point in overall turnout: 65%, versus last year with 66%. Life is like that! 99% of success is just showing up. Artist of the ..read more

Good morning & welcome to the final stretch. This is a public announcement of the Nomination Round results; big ups to all the winners. Each of these categories is down to the top five nominees, listed here in alphabetical order. I've got some notes at the end, but let's get straight to it, yeah? Artist of the Year Conswank Charlie Mayne Pleasant Boys Real Ricky Yung Breeze Most Improved Conswank FOZ. Funky Diabetic FLYWLKR Xistential Best Emcee Jarv Konflik Maari Rivan Yung Breeze Best Producer Caleb Lodish Es-K Rico James SKYWISE THEN WHAt Best Group 99 Neighbors Juicebox Konflik & ..read more

For anyone just catching up or catching on, a quick rundown. (For anyone familiar, there is nothing new here and the final ballot goes up Friday morning.) Every year I do this, there's a lot of the same questions, and that's good. That means this is reaching new people every year, and it means the audience for what we do is expanding every year, too. Rather than doing a cheap pay-to-play scheme, an even cheaper social media popularity contest, or writing some kind of "Offical Vermont Hip Hop Top 10" list, the Vermont Hip Hop Awards is just under 150 rappers, DJs, producers, videographers, pro ..read more

RIP Mene Gene Okerlund. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, it is time. The Vermont Hip Hop Awards are an annual assessment of the scene, a means of measuring respect more than success. All awards are ultimately popularity contests, surely, but this is a community affair, a consensus of peers. We are operating on an accelerated schedule this time around. The VTHH Awards got a voter turnaround rate of 67% last year, just like the average Presidential election, and the fact is, most of those votes came in right away. So let’s turn up the tempo a bit. Nominations are open, starting now, and run un ..read more

2023 has been a trip, no question. Coverage here has been mostly non-existent, but certain traditions must be observed: yes, there will be another VTHH Hip Hop Awards kicking off on January 2nd. Coverage here has also been less important than ever. Bigg Faxx. This is a project that was started to make connections, to give a growing scene a sense of itself. Things were very different then. We're a couple years past needing that. We have a thriving, multi-layered hip hop scene in Vermont right now and it's all very much connected. That's thanks to their hard work, not this website. In particula ..read more

Another burner of a bill from the Anthill Collective team, always offering a surprising but solid cross-section of what the 802 has to offer. The connections that get made here are crazy in terms of how much they shape the scene. (Plus it’s just a great group of people in that building any given day.) This time around, recent NYC transplant and dynamite mic wrecker Boxguts will be in the place to be, alongside The 6ix representative and longtime 802 noisemaker Spacey Jones, who will be in Maine this weekend celebrating the release of his team’s debut LP as a group, Black Magic and Trap Houses ..read more

Vermont Hip Hop, as a community, as a superorganism, is about to undergo some of the most incredible changes it has ever seen. A lot of that is because the same is true for the entire Vermont music scene and, indeed, the whole damn music industry. Yet it's also thanks to the talent & hard work of the hundred or so core players who have made all of this possible, and necessary. Rather than focusing on cold hard facts (done that already) this is mostly going to be strategic advice and cautious encouragement. Sure, most of you are going to "fail," but you're also going to make memories you'l ..read more