Local rap/hip-hop act

Virtuoso

Underground upstart

He's 19 years old and has only one single to his name, but the self-proclaimed "Cambridgian lyrical champion" came out on top of this year's Best Music Poll by beating out some more-seasoned underground MCs (Mr. Lif, 7L & Esoteric) and one certified Beantown veteran (Ed O.G.). So how did this rookie top the older competition? Well, he built up a solid rep with jaw-dropping cameos on a pair of 7L & Esoteric singles -- two of Boston hip-hop's illest tracks in recent memory. Late last year, on his own "Incinerator" (Brick Records), Virtuoso came on like a fire-breathing, polysyllabic-spewing monster, and he's been a constant presence at local shows ever since, dropping his patented barrage of skewed scientific similes in freestyles that continue to amaze. More than just a victory for Virtuoso himself, the outcome is a convincing win for Boston's underground camp, who've been trying to overturn the notion that Boston has no local rap scene, and for hip-hop heads who favor the old-school credo of "beats and lyrics" over Puffy-style posing.

-- Michael Endelman