• Courtesy of Karsen Woods
• 99 Neighbors

99 Neighbors — “I can’t believe 99 Neighbors won best hip-hop group,” said no one. That’s because, in the last two years, the massive collective has gone from quietly dropping mixtapes on SoundCloud to headlining the 750-capacity Higher Ground Ballroom. Anchored by MCs Sam Paulino and HANKNATIVE, the Burlington group consists of rappers, instrumentalists, videographers, fashion designers and producers, all functioning like a living, breathing organism. They’ve dropped three of the past year’s best albums by Vermont-based artists. And the group recently acquired representation from the Paradigm Talent Agency, a sure sign that its members may not be our neighbors for too much longer.

Other Finalists

• A2VT
• D.French
• DIGGS
• Jarv
• Learic