Blue Sky Black Death may have its roots in indie/true school hip-hop—and the production credits to prove it (Guru, Jean Grae, Holocaust)—but the duo’s cinematic, genre-blurring “experience” albums Late Night Cinema (2008) and Noir (2011), and their accomplished collaborative album Third Party (2010) with Boy in Static vocalist Alexander Chen, paint a much grander picture; a growing catalogue of ambitious productions with a diverse list of artists has proven BSBD true visionaries. Comprising producers Ian Taggart and Kingston Maguire (or Young God and Kingston respectively), the duo had a prolific and pivotal 2011–12, morphing styles once again in their team-up with raspy punch-liner Nacho Picasso for a masterful future-trap trilogy, while also working with Skull and Bones and Deniro Farrar. BSBD benefited greatly from the input of occasional co-producer Raised Byy Wolves (another front-runner for this award), who added dimension with his forceful minimalism. 2013 has seen a dynamite contribution to Picasso and Avatar Darko’s Vamperstam and the first taste of a project with UK rap group S.A.S., and promises the much-anticipated follow-up to Noir, entitled Glaciers.