Hip-Hop has a headlock on the 2017 Boston Music Awards nominations

Every year a cyber battle royale kicks off when the Boston Music Awards nominations are announced. In fact on more than one occasion it was members of the KBX squad lighting the torches and passing out pitchforks. But the 30th edition of the show may be a bit different with a significant boost in the Hip-Hop presence in this year’s nominations.

Hip-hop acts Cousin Stizz and STL GLD lead the way with six each with Avenue right behind them with 5 of his own. Joyner Lucas and Latrell James came in with three nods each. New faces like Vintage Lee and Oompa also show up to make their first appearance in the noms.

Seems like the BMAs have switched things up for the better. The 2017 BMAs nomination committee was made up of over 400 folks from the music scene including past winners and music professionals.

But even with the refreshed approach there are a couple of folks missing. Like where is the Latin Grammy winning rapper Bia and her DJ Papadon who stays crushing clubs when not on tour? It might be time to expand some of the categories by a couple of slots. But we can see this is a vast improvement over previous years.

Oh yeah, your favorite neighborhood KillerBoomBox got some love in the Music Blog Of The Year. (We suggest a re-brand for this category by the way.) This is the second year in the row.

The public has until October 30 at midnight to make the voices heard at www.bostonmusicawards.com. The winners with be announced House of Blues on Dec. 7. Vote early and often.

And now, the nominees for the 2017 Boston Music Awards:

Music Blog of the Year
Allston Pudding
Boston Hassle
KillerBoomBox
Red Line Roots
Sound Of Boston
Vanyaland

Artist of the Year
Animal Flag
Cousin Stizz
Julie Rhodes
Joyner Lucas
Palehound
Pile
PVRIS
STL GLD
The Ballroom Thieves
Weakened Friends

New Artist of the Year
Ali McGuirk
Baby!
Bat House
Carissa Johnson
Lilith
Mint Green
no hope / no harm
Oompa
Sidney Gish
Vintage Lee

Unsigned Artist of the Year
Animal Flag
Avenue
Beeef
Carissa Johnson
Julie Rhodes
Lady Pills
Latrell James
Ripe
Vundabar
Weakened Friends

Album of the Year
Avenue – “Mass Ave & Lenox”
Bad Rabbits – “American Nightmare”
Cousin Stizz – “One Night Only”
Eddie Japan – “Golden Age”
Joyner Lucas – “508-507-2209”
Palehound – “A Place I’ll Always Go”
Pile – “A Hairshirt Of Purpose”
PVRIS – “All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell”
STL GLD – “Torch Song”
The Ballroom Thieves – “Deadeye”

Song of the Year
Avenue – “Ain’t Shit Funny”
Cousin Stizz ft. Offset – “Headlock”
Millyz – “Lessons”
Palehound – “If You Met Her”
Pile – “Texas”
PVRIS – “Heaven”
Ruby Rose Fox – “Rainbow Suffragette”
STL GLD – “Good”
The Rationales – “Ready To Go”
Weakened Friends ft. J Mascis – “Hate Mail”

Music Video of the Year
Converge – “I Can Tell You About Pain”
Cousin Stizz ft. Offset – “Headlock”
Joyner Lucas – “Just Like You”
Palehound – “If You Met Her”
PVRIS – “Heaven”
Token – “Exception”

Music Video of the Year (Unsigned Artist)
Avenue – “Ain’t Shit Funny”
Bat House – “Alright, Spaceboy”
Dutch ReBelle & Marcela Cruz – “Don’t Know Why / Mophizzy”
Megan Tracy & the Missed Connections – “Color the Air”
STL GLD ft. Dutch ReBelle, Tigerman WOAH, Julie Rhodes – “Feels Like Home”
The Devil’s Twins ft Slaine – “Satan Stone”

Live Artist of the Year
Converge
Cousin Stizz
Julie Rhodes
Latrell James
Pile
Ripe
STL GLD
The Ballroom Thieves
Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys
Weakened Friends

DJ of the Year
BREK.ONE
DJ Knife
Frank White
LeahV
SuperSmashBroz
YVNG PAVL

Hip Hop Artist of the Year
Avenue
Cousin Stizz
Dutch ReBelle
Latrell James
Michael Christmas
STL GLD

R&B Artist of the Year
Bad Rabbits
Haasan Barclay
Marcela Cruz
Rebecca Zama
Rey Royale
TeaMarrr

Studio Engineer of the Year
Benny Grotto
Brian Charles
Dave Minehan
Ed Valauskas
Janos Fulop (The Arcitype)
Sean McLaughlin Music

Music Night of the Year Emo Night at The Sinclair
Heroes at Middle East
Make It New at Middlesex Lounge
PVRPLE at Good Life
Soulelujah at Zuzu
The Wave by CLLCTV Boston at Middlesex Lounge

Photographer of the Year
Ben Stas
Cara DiFabio
Eddy Leiva
Greg Gaffney
Jen Vesp
Jonathan Beckley
Matthew Shelter
Natasha Moustache
Richard Knowles
Tim Bugbee

Live Ongoing Residency of the Year
Bearly Dead at Thunder Road
Country Club at State Park with These Wild Plains
Downbeat Mondays at The Sinclair with Matthew Stubbs and the Antiguas
Gospel Brunch with The Revelations at Atwood’s Tavern
OldJack Last Saturdays at Lizard Lounge
Tim Gearan Band at Atwood’s Tavern

Alternative/Indie Artist of the Year
Bent Knee
Future Teens
Lady Pills
Palehound
Vundabar
Weakened Friends

Americana Artist of the Year
Honeysuckle
Julie Rhodes
Session Americana
The Rationales
These Wild Plains
Tigerman WOAH

Blues Artist of the Year
Barrence Whitfield & The Savages
Matthew Stubbs & The Antiguas
Monster Mike Welch
Peter Parcek
Shor’ty Billups
The Silks

Country Artist of the Year
Annie Brobst
Ashley Jordan
Girls Gun & Glory
Hayley Thompson-King
Houston Bernard Band
Jessie Chris

Electronic Artist of the Year
Bearstronaut
Camino 84
CONTACT
ORCHIDS
Photocomfort
Radclyffe Hall

Folk Artist of the Year
Dan Blakeslee and the Calabash Club
Darlingside
Honeysuckle
Tall Heights
The Ballroom Thieves
Town Meeting

International Artist of the Year
Debo Band
Dub Apocalypse
Jireh Calo
Shun Ng
Ubuntu Band
Yoko Miwa

Jazz Artist of the Year
Alison Keslow
Esperanza Spalding
Grace Kelly
Jireh Calo
People Like You
Yoko Miwa

Metal Artist of the Year
Converge
Elder
Gozu
Lunglust
Protean Collective
Worshipper

Pop Artist of the Year
Bearstronaut
CONTACT
Jenna Lotti
JoJo
PVRIS
Ruby Rose Fox

Punk/Hardcore Artist of the Year
Ascend/Descend
Choke Up
Nice Guys
Rebuilder
The Hotelier
The Kominas

Rock Artist of the Year
Animal Flag
Black Beach
Carissa Johnson
Pile
Salem Wolves
The Devil’s TwinsSinger

Songwriter of the Year
Abbie Barrett
Hayley Thompson-King
Lori McKenna
Marissa Nadler
Ruby Rose Fox
Will Dailey

Female Vocalist of the Year
Courtney Swain (Bent Knee)
Ellen Kempner (Palehound)
Julie Rhodes
Lyndsey Gunnulfsen (PVRIS)
Ruby Rose Fox
TeaMarrr

Male Vocalist of the Year Evan Kenney (Dirty Bangs)
Fredua Boakye (Bad Rabbits)
Martin Earley (The Ballroom Thieves)
Tad McKitterick (Sidewalk Driver)
Walter Sickert (Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys)
Will Dailey

Session Musician of the Year
Dave Brophy
Duke Levine
Jonathan Ulman
Matthew Girard
Mike Levesque
Paul Ahlstrand

Live Production Engineer of the Year
Benjamin Stoppelman
Brendon Downey
Chris Johnson
Dan Gonzales
Ian Nault
Reid Calkin

Music Promoter of the Year
Aaron Gray – Grayskull Booking
Alyssa Spector – Lysten Boston
Jason Trefts – Illegally Blind
Lisa Finelli – Xperience Creative
Ned Wellbery – Leedz Edutainment
Ryan Agate – RTT Presents

Live Music Venue of the Year
Brighton Music Hall
House of Blues
Paradise Rock Club
Royale
The Middle East Downstairs
The Sinclair

Intimate Live Music Venue of the Year
Atwood’s Tavern
Great Scott
Lizard Lounge
O’Brien’s Pub
ONCE
TOAD