This duo has already staked their claim to Portland hip-hop royalty, winning as they have some hip-hop-related category or other in each of the Best Music Poll’s past five years (originally as part of kNOw Complex in 2001). Maybe that’s why their table in the front of the awards show seemed to be party central. Leave it to the hip-hoppers to get rowdy, right?

Still, this ain’t no flouncy Outkast collective. Sontiago’s fans — they run the gamut from 14-year-old girls just realizing their potential to old-school feminists who’d like to think they can still get down to your standard boys who’d like to get summa dat — weren’t disappointed with the long-awaited Abuse My Adoration when it dropped last summer. It delivered with all the polysyllabic rhymes, sweet-sung melodies, and tight beats they’ve come to expect from Portland hip-hop’s queen bee.

Though Moshe only produced one of those tracks, where would Son-T be in the live arena without her trusty DJ? He’s gone beyond just spinning and pushing buttons to help out on backing vocals, filling out the song’s sound both digitally and the old-fashioned way.

This pair continue to drive the Portland hip-hop scene. The question is simply how far they’ll take us.

Runners up: Ill Natural, Bread