As you probably heard last night, Drake started yet another trend with his #HoodGrammys on Instagram. That's all well and good, but he only announced 5 awards, and to be honest there was a slight OVO-family bias with some of them (PARTYNEXTDOOR with mixtape of the year? Bruh.) So we've decided to use this week's Top 10 instalment fill in all the missing categories. We'll rank them in order of importance, and to be clear this is the Hood Grammys, so for the most part we're staying clear of the radio chart-toppers and sticking with what's been lighting the streets on fire.
As usual, hit us up on Twitter or Facebook with your feedback or any awards we missed, and drop down into the comment section with your suggestions for the Hood Grammys as well. Even though it's sort of unrelated, we leave you with Drizzy's killer performance from the 2010 Grammys with Tunechi, Slim, and Travis Barker.
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Best R&B Banger
Best R&B Banger
This artist has exploded on the scene this year, one of many new artists who can rap and sing at a high level. On this jam, he lays it down slow, only to show you his impressive bars at the end. With versatile artists like Lanez flooding the scene, it will be interesting to see how music like this shapes the genre going forward.
The Hood Grammy goes to:
"Henny In Hand" by Torey Lanez
Best New Dance Craze
Best New Dance Craze
Every few years in hip-hop, a new song comes along that incites a dance phenomenon. From the Dougie to the Nae Nae, we've seen them all come and go, fading into history only to be laughed at years later when they're eventually picked up by white moms and dads. This year's dance reached fever pitch rather quickly, elevating all the way to the top with Hov and Beyonce performing it on stage. It probably didn't hurt that the song where the dance came from was the most remixed song since "Started From The Bottom".
The Hood Grammy goes to:
The Shmoney Dance
Best Debut Project
Best Debut Project
This artist just dropped his debut this past week, but don't worry, it's worthy. While there were a ton of projects from new artists recently, he has stood out with his impressive flow and intense storytelling. He's spitting real life shit for you to learn from and digest, and even J. Cole was impressed enough to sign him to his Dreamville imprint.
The Hood Grammy goes to:
Cozz & Effect by Cozz
Best Artist We Couldn't Understand
Best Artist We Couldn't Understand
We literally have zero idea what this artist said in any of his songs, but we still fucked with him heavy. He made serious moves this year, going from a relatively unknown commodity to forming a group with one of the titans of the industry, Birdman. While there's been speculation not only about what he says, but what he does in his free time, we couldn't care less because he keeps delivering those bangers.
The Hood Grammy goes to:
Best New Artist We Could Understand
Best New Artist We Could Understand
This artist has been around for a minute on the low, but finally got his shine this year, putting out street anthem after street anthem. Not only is he winning a Hood Grammy, one of the most prestigious awards in existence, but he also got himself on the XXL Freshman cover this year. Everyone knows that's a sure fire way to the top, unless you're Charles Hamilton or Donnis. Congrats to this artist for getting "Out The Mud" and putting in work this year.
The Hood Grammy goes to:
Kevin Gates
Best Comeback Artist
Best Comeback Artist
This artist was away for a long time, which can sometimes kill a career. However, he hit the studio, literally the day he got out of the slammer, and has delivered consistent heat ever since. The former XXL Freshman is poised to continue his once promising career, and doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Some may call him "Crazy" but but that's just crazy, we know he's all there.
The Hood Grammy goes to:
Lil Boosie
Best Collab We Never Saw Coming
Best Collab We Never Saw Coming
These two artists couldn't have any more different pasts, fans, music catalogs, you name it. But when they hopped on a track together this year, we couldn't help but turn up. They're both stars in the game and sure to have long careers, as long as one of them stays somewhat sane and the other keeps himself out of trouble. Both dropped new mixtapes this year that are well worth your time, so go download those as well, here and here.
The Hood Grammy goes to:
Riot by Fredo Santana featuring Childish Gambino
Best Female Performance
Best Female Performance
This artist has been on her pop star thing for a few years now, but that didn't stop her from starting a remix storm in the streets when she dropped this bager earlier in 2014. She proved when she wants to be on her hood shit, she still handles business with the best of them. As an honorable mention, Dej Loaf's "Try Me" took the internet by surprise a few weeks ago with love from Wiz and Drake, but it hasn't yet reached the levels that this Hood Grammy Award-winning Chi-town anthem did.
The Hood Grammy goes to:
Chiraq by Nicki Minaj
Best Hood Anthem
Best Hood Anthem
This artist came out of nowhere recently with her street anthem begging haters to try her. She gained national recognition when the likes of Drake and Wiz Khalifa championed her catchy smash, and is now riding that wave of popularity. We can expect every rapper and his brother to remix the track between now and the end of the year, so look forward to that (We're looking at you Papoose).
The Hood Grammy goes to:
"Try Me" by Dej Loaf
Best High Class Hood Joint
Best High Class Hood Joint
Only this artist can make street-worthy diss tracks and aim them at a clothing line. He has transformed the face of what "hood" is, making it gangster to dress in designer. This was the first solo music we had heard from the homie in almost 2 years, and he didn't disappoint, only making us crave his new sophomore album even more.
The Hood Grammy goes to:
"Multiply" by A$AP Rocky