Brandie Blaze Keeps the Torch Lit for Boston Hip Hop

Some artists ask for your attention. Brandie Blaze takes it. The Boston rapper has spent years bringing hard bars, big personality and a commanding stage presence to the city's hip hop scene, and if she isn't in your rotation yet, this is your sign.

Boston through and through

Brandie Blaze is about as Boston as it gets. In an interview with Queer Women in Music Boston, she said she is "the 3rd generation of my family to be born here." She has been performing for almost as long as she can remember. "Since I was 3 years old," she told the organization, "so I don't remember not ever being on stage."

She started writing poetry in middle school and moved into rapping in high school, per 617 Sessions. A hip hop artist from Boston, Massachusetts, she came up inspired by female rappers such as Lil' Kim and Missy Elliott, whose "raw lyrics and dynamic stage presence" let her "compete with the boys and rep for the ladies."

A trap feminist with a mission

She is an activist and a self-proclaimed "trap feminist," and her "hard hitting bars are how she stands up for herself" and for Black women everywhere. Her mission, as 617 Sessions puts it, is "to celebrate people that identify as women and femmes through the language of hip hop."

That mission is why her music hits the way it does. It's loud, it's confident, and it doesn't apologize. In a genre that has long given men the microphone, she's taking her share of it and handing some to the women around her.

The résumé

The Boston Music Awards took notice in 2019. Her single "Model" was nominated for 617 Sessions Artist of the Year, and "Cleo N 'Nem," her feature on Boston rapper Oompa's album "Cleo," was nominated for Song of the Year, according to the BMA's official 2019 nominee list. She was also on the lineup to perform at that year's ceremony at the House of Blues on Dec. 11, Vanyaland reported, alongside Optic Bloom, Roy Juno, Hawthorn, House of Harm, Future Teens and others.

She has opened for JPEGMAFIA, Junglepussy, STL GLD, Oompa and Cliff Notez.

She has worked in theater, too. Her catalog includes "Click Click Bling Bling (From The Company One Production of 'Hoops')." It is a reminder that her talent travels beyond the club stage and into the theater.

The latest: 'BIG VIRGO ENERGY'

Among her most recent releases is "BIG VIRGO ENERGY," a collaboration with fellow Boston artists Ashanti Eva Davenport and Kasia Lavon, produced by Rilla Force, a 2019 BMA nominee for Dance/Electronic Artist of the Year. It arrived "right on time, August 22," Vanyaland wrote in 2025, just ahead of Virgo season.

Vanyaland described the track as celebrating the sign's traits, "adaptability, thoughtfulness, wielding a critical eye," over "a sleek bass groove." The outlet asked whether the song would be stuck in your head for the foreseeable future. Its answer: "All signs point to yes."

Earlier in 2025 she linked up with Brockton emcee ShellzWithAZ on "VOWELS." Vanyaland called them "two homegrown emcees — from Brockton and Boston, respectively," and built the hook around the alphabet itself, both of them running through "A E I O U" in their own way. It is the kind of hook that sticks after one listen.

Go deeper

Her catalog runs back years. There are singles like "Drown" (2019), plus features like "Thug" with Rock Boyega (2022). Start with "BIG VIRGO ENERGY," then work backward through "VOWELS" and "Drown" and see how the voice has sharpened.

Listen

Listen to "BIG VIRGO ENERGY" and the rest of her catalog on her official Apple Music artist page, on Spotify and on SoundCloud.

Why she matters

Boston's hip hop scene has never lacked talent. What it has sometimes lacked is visibility. Artists like Brandie Blaze keep the scene loud, keep the stages full and keep the next generation watching. Catch her live the next chance you get. Boston hip hop is better with Brandie Blaze in it.