The 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards have historically acted as a footnote to hip-hop’s prominence as industry trendsetters. Drake put it best Sunday afternoon on his Instagram Story: “Congrats to anybody winning anything for hip-hop, but this show doesn’t dictate sh*t in our world.”
It rings true; Rappers were rarely represented this past Sunday (Feb. 4) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Of the footnotes I’ll provide, Killer Mike swept all the major rap categories (Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance), however, Lil Durk and J. Cole nabbed Best Melodic Rap Performance for their efforts on “All My Life.” This was Durk’s first GRAMMY, and Cole’s second since winning in 2020. All of these awards were given out in the premiere show, not the nationally televised broadcast.
Mixed reactions swirl the Best Rap Album category, with Travis Scott’s UTOPIA and Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains being pre-show frontrunners amongst many fans. They were statiscally the most streamed rap albums of the year, but fell short in the Academy’s eyes. The simple fact that the rap categories were not a part of the primary broadcast is apparent in the Academy’s unwavering perspective on hip-hop being a second stringer in their eyes.
Scott later took shots at the GRAMMYs during his performance of “FE!N,” which was surprisingly assisted by Playboi Carti — wearing a black hockey mask similar to Kanye West’s as of late. The pair previously linked up on Carti’s oft-released track “BACKR00MS.”
Smashing chairs and ad-libbing “they slept on me 10 times” during “FE!N!” — referencing his 10 GRAMMY nominations without a win — it’s a rather sour note on the state of a genre constantly striving for Academy inclusion; this seems to hurt hip-hop’s standing more at surface level.
Scarce from the red carpet, it was Jay-Z who held it down for hip-hop — inadvertently prompting his now infamous heat check to the Recording Academy while accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award.
“Some of you gonna go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category,” he said, speaking on how his wife Beyonce has won the most GRAMMYs in history, but never Album Of The Year. Hov’s statement echoes sentiments made by Kanye West in the past.
This reared its head once more: SZA’s SOS was beat by Taylor Swift’s Midnights — admittedly one of the more lackluster records in her discography. A favorite to earn Album Of The Year heading into the awards ceremony, Taylor came out on top, becoming the most decorated AOTY winner in GRAMMYs history. SZA didn’t leave empty-handed, though, she took home honors for Best R&B Song (“Snooze”), Best Progressive R&B Album and Best Urban Contemporary Album, becoming a four-time GRAMMY winner in the process.
Pop stars littered GRAMMY nomination ballots and won more than a majority of major categories, with Taylor Swift, Lana Del Ray, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Rodrigo and others leading the charge in most categories. Ice Spice was up for Best New Artist, but lost to the deserving Victoria Monet, who won Best R&B Album earlier ok.
It’s clear that the Academy views Pop as the premium cultural vessel for the industry, but here’s hoping Jay-Z’s words were another push to let the Recording Academy know that change needs to happen.
Check out the full list of GRAMMY winners here.