Travis Grier – @yoyotrav

Best Collaboration:

Migos Ft. Lil Uzi Vert – Bad and Boujee:
Plain and simple, Bad and Boujee helped kick off 2017’s Hip Hop scene on a high note. One of a few records that was successful before going viral, the icing on the cake came when it topped the Billboard Hot 100. Furthermore, the record is still fresh and infectious, several months later. Attached to Migos’ most successful project to date, they deserve to win.

Best Male Hip Hop Artist:

Drake:
Over the past year, this one seems to be a no-brainer, with two clear front-runners: Drake and Chance The Rapper. Breaking everything down, Drake is the deserving winning as he produced win after win in 2017. On the other hand, Chance The Rapper helped change many views on what people think of when they think about independent artist. Showing he could hold his grown with the big dogs and even winning a Grammy, Chance seems to can’t do no wrong. Throwing away the politics of who gets the award due to if they show up or not, Drake takes it home.

Best Female Hip Hop Artist:

Cardi B:
This should be renamed the Nicki Minaj Award. That being said, with most of Nicki’s 2016 being rather quiet, that left the door open for a resurgence of some ladies of Hip Hop and introduction to others. For Remy, who came back as if she never left, she saw success with “All The Way Up” and released a joint album with Fat Joe, but it’s Cardi B who appears to be the most deserving. With a rise from social media personality to a super buzzing woman of Hip Hop, Cardi B’s 2016 come-up should be enough to have her take this home. Cardi, I’m rooting for you.

Best New Artist:

Chance The Rapper:
Stepping back and looking at the list without any bias, each individual in this category had an amazing 2016, but Chance The Rapper surpassed them all, in a lot of way. Essentially, this is a no-brainer and would be more shocking if Chance The Rapper didn’t win, versus his impending win.

Video of the Year:

Solange – ‘Cranes In The Sky’
With every record in this category being a hit, this might be difficult for some folks to pick just one. Leaving it just to the visual presentation, Solange’s “Cranes In The Sky” is the clear and deserving winner. Perfectly capturing the ambiances that the song gives off and something distinguishably different from all the other music videos in this category, this should not go to anyone else but the A Seat At The Table singer.