Why The Rap Community Hates The Grammys
Image Courtesy: Twitter
This Sunday, the Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles is hosting the 65th annual GRAMMY Awards (sorry, Super Bowl, you’ll have to wait till next Sunday). That being said, it feels like a good time to remind everyone that most of your hip-hop and rap-lover friends will be hate-watching.
To provide some context for people who aren’t on the side of social media where hip-hop and rap discourse takes place, it has become an ongoing gag for fans to eagerly wait for the release of the nominations, just to read them in disappointment and share their grievances online.
You could just write it off as fans being upset that their favorite artists and album of the year didn’t get nominated, and they’re biased because of that, but the response is made in a manner where everyone agrees that the choices are flat-out horrendous. The criticisms focus less on who should’ve won and more on why the winners are winners. Criticism has also come from artists themselves, making it a general public outcry from all parties on the selections.
This pattern can be traced back to the GRAMMYS’ most controversial pick in 2014 at the 56th annual show, where a nominee list for “Best Rap Album” containing: “Nothing Was The Same'' by Drake, “Good Kidd Maad City'' by Kendrick Lamar, “Yeezus,'' by Kanye West, and “Magna Carta Holy Grail,'' by Jay-Z, were all runner up to… “The Heist'' by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Although “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us” were both Billboard #1 songs, it was an expectation that one of these four classic albums from these all-time greats would be walking away a winner. If you aren’t convinced that Macklemore didn’t deserve the nod, he even said it himself when he posted texts apologizing to Kendrick Lamar for beating him in the category.
Image Courtesy: Okayplayer.com
In 2019 at the 61st annual GRAMMYs, history repeated itself when Cardi B’s “Invasion of Privacy” won Best Rap Album over “Astroworld” by Travis Scott, “Victory Lap” by Nipsey Hussle, “Swimming” by Mac Miller, and “Daytona” by Pusha T: all pivotal albums that were held to high standards that year. The GRAMMYs faced extra backlash that year from the public and Ariana Grande, due to inviting Mac’s parents to the ceremony just to watch the award be given to someone else. Although Cardi B had a record-breaking year for her career, her singles “Bodak Yellow” and “I Like It” were more relevant than the album itself. When thinking about an album, you take it in as a complete body of work, its presentation, and transitions song-to-song, from beginning to end. With this perspective, it’s a hard pill to swallow that any, literally any, of these other albums did not win.
Public criticism from artists who lose their nomination for awards doesn’t make an academy award look bad, but criticism from the winner sure does. This happened in 2020, when Tyler, the Creator won Best Rap Album for “Igor” and ripped the GRAMMYs in his post-win interview the same night for even putting him in the category (rightfully so, as the album does not sound rap-inspired at all).
Image Courtesy: CNN.com
Tyler’s comments created discourse in the rap community about the GRAMMYs committee, their chronic lack of understanding of the Rap category, and their disrespect towards deserving artists. Year after year, more and more people have a growing discomfort with the blatant disrespect that takes place, with tons and tons of artists lacking appreciation and recognition for their incredible bodies of work.
This year is no different, with two imposters filling up this year's nominations in the Rap category. These imposters are none other than DJ Khaled and Jack Harlow. This is not meant to be disrespectful towards either of the artists and the music they’ve put out, but compared to the rest of the field, “GOD DID” and “Come Home The Kids Miss You” are not GRAMMY-worthy. Albums like “The House Is Burning” by Isaiah Rashad, “The Never Story” by J.I.D, “2000” by Joey Bada$$, and “More Black Superheroes” by WESTSIDE BOOGIE were all extremely well-received and acclaimed albums that dropped this year, and they’re all getting put in the corner to less artistic albums. If either of those two albums wins over “Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers” by Kendrick Lamar, “I NEVER LIKED YOU” by Future, or “It’s Almost Dry” by Pusha T, the public might storm the award show that night.
The lack of transparency in the process that goes into nominee selections is most confusing to people. Is it about numbers? Is it about mainstream success? Is it about reviews and public discourse surrounding the music? The lack of vetting that goes into the committee for the GRAMMY’s is concerning because it seems like the board is filled with people who lack a sense of understanding for the genre of Rap and black art. If fan and artist input is not the most important criteria for selection, then this will just be a chronic issue of the public disagreeing with the academy and not supporting their show. Per the GRAMMY website, “As the only peer-recognized music award, the GRAMMY is the music industry’s highest honor.” The question is, what peers recognize these awards? Because it isn’t the fans of the music, and it clearly isn’t the artists in the industry.
Strike Out,
JD Delcastillo
Boca Raton
JD Delcastillo is a Content Writer for Strike Magazine. He loves consuming media and thinking critically. A major know-it-all, anything related to pop culture, music, and sports, he has knowledge in. Reach out to him on instagram @jd.delcastillo or email @ jd.delcastillo954@gmail.com
