The amount that we've been seeing Seattle native Dempsey Hope on socials over the last two months is insane. His flow is bringing some nostalgia to our ears that feels much needed. Dempsey has this way about him and the way he is teasing and sharing his music -- it is relaxed, nonchalant, but cuts at your heart in the most unassuming way. To give this man his flowers for a second, he dropped 53 singles last year in 2025. 53. Artists always say "I'm going to drop a single a we

Judah Weston's recent run of singles shows exactly why he's one of New York's most compelling new voices in rap. There's a rawness to everything Judah puts out that feels lived-in rather than performed. He's one of those artists who carries his story in his music without having to announce it. This authenticity is derived from a lower east side background, raised by a single mom, arrested for a felony at 12, etc. Needless to say, stability was a foreign concept for an extende

There's no doubt about it, Texas' very own Igzotic is easily the VA SHIFT team's favorite up and coming artist, by a long shot. Like most underground hip-hop consumers, our first sighting of the artist was sitting in his car with his girl, rapping his ass off to his most viral single, "Money Chaser." From there, staying tapped in was an absolute no brainer. That day the team and I sat down and picked apart his discography song by song, learning about the evolution of a young