Joey Bada$$, Pro Era, Bodega Bamz, Va$htie, and Raven Sorvino

Hip-hop is having a renaissance right now in the city of New York, where it seems like every other day a new MC rises up out of the five boroughs with an even more unique style and approach to the music than what we thought was possible before. Motley crews like the A$AP Mob, the Beast Coast, and World's Fair have given us a reason to love rhymes again. We've written a lot about this stuff, but sometimes words don't do it justice. So, we've linked up with scene insider Verena Stefanie Grotto to document the new New York movement as it happens in real time, with intimate shots of rappers, scenesters, artists, and fashion fiends.

In this week's photos, Verena caught up with Joey Bada$$ and Pro Era at Va$htie's birthday party. She shot some photos of Bodega BAMZ rehearsing before Summerjam, at the Livin Proof Party, and in the MTV Jam offices. Later, she brought her camera along as LA rapper Raven Sorvino copped some personalized sneakers.

Photographer Verena Stefanie was born and bred in Bassano del Grappa, Italy. The small town is not known for hip-hop, but they do make a very tasty grape-based pomace brandy there called grappa. Stefanie left Bassano del Grappa at the age of 17 to go and live the wild skateboarding life in Barcelona, Spain, where she worked as the Fashion Coordinator for VICE Spain. Tired of guiding photographers to catch the best shots, she eventually grabbed the camera herself and is now devoted to documenting artists, rappers, style-heads, and more. She recently directed a renowned documentary about the Grime scene in UK and has had photo features in GQ, Cosmopolitan, VICE, and many more. 

Check out her website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

@VerenaStefanie 

Previously - Iamsu!, Kilo Kish, Problem, the Flatbush Zombies, Lil Durk, Frenchie, and More