12 of 15

in BOSTON

It’s Big Digits by a ’stache hair over last year’s winners and perennial local faves 7L & Esoteric. Purists might scoff at BD’s electro-absurdist brand of hip-hop, but the Boston’s party-rap paragons’ lack of pretension is a breath of fresh air in a genre fraught with overly serious “conscious” attitudes and dubious thug baloney. Mac and TD have but one goal in mind: to make you dance. And they have, whether they’re bringing bass-heavy ballyhoo to indie rock shows at Great Scott, rocking the socks off your buddy’s basement party, nerding out with spiritual cousin Dan Deacon at MassArt or the Middle East, or opening for M.I.A. at the Palladium. They’ve got rhymes like, “I’m no longer a tiny little pumpkin/I am stronger than a hundred million munchkins.” They sample “The Final Countown.” They dance funny. One of ’em has a ridiculous handlebar mustache. But they also rock the party that rocks the body. And as MC Lyte will tell you, sometimes that’s all that matters.

— Will Spitz

LISTEN: Big Digits, "Rescue 911" (mp3)

Runners-up
1. 7L & Esoteric
2. Gnotes
3. Akrobatik

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