Ariana Grande was completely left out of the big four categories. Chris Brown was selected in two categories despite his history of violence against women. And Tinashe went unmentioned across all R&B categories. But yet again, hip-hop fans were the ones left most frustrated, with baffling nominations across the board.
J. Cole’s Might Delete Later, which almost all fans will agree was far from his best work, has managed to weasel its way into the Best Rap Album category. Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady appears alongside it, despite consisting of nothing more than intentionally inflammatory bars and the incessant ramblings of an old man about Gen-Z trying to cancel him (we really aren’t, Marshall).
Meanwhile, multiple of the most solid rap releases this year went unmentioned. Like Don Toliver’s Hardstone Psycho that masterfully blends hip-hop and rock. Or the incredibly adventurous and varied soundscape of Schoolboy Q’s BLUE LIPS. Or Lupe Fiasco’s Samurai, which explores the life of Amy Winehouse in a world where she became a battle rapper – yes, you heard that right.
It feels like whoever decided on these nominations just went for the safest picks possible, making the competition feel like nothing more than a popularity contest. Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign’s ‘CARNIVAL’ received a nomination for Best Rap Song despite Kanye’s laughably bad lyricism, leaving flawless tracks like Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘HISS’ and 21 Savage’s ‘redrum’ out.
This is far from the first time the Grammy’s rap knowledge has been highly questionable, with poor decisions like these being made almost every year. There’s of course the notorious 2014 Best Rap Album incident, where Macklemore’s The Heist somehow triumphed over Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Jay-Z and Drake. Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy is another highly controversial winner, blocking Travis Scott from the album accolade he still hasn’t achieved.
The question that arises from this is: why does the Grammys seem to care so little about the genre? Well, for starters, the voting membership is dominated by older white males who may be voting in categories they’re not familiar with or don’t care to do the research for. Attempts to repair this process have been made by increasing diversity within the voting board, but it’s still far from representative.
It's hard to accept the notion that the problem doesn’t go deeper than that though. The Grammys has been accused of racial bias ever since its inception, with the problem existing even outside the few rap categories that black artists are almost always placed into. Black artists are treated as ‘good enough’ to win awards over people of their own skin colour, but aren’t treated as equal when competing against other artists. The Weeknd has felt this way since his single “Blindings Lights” was absurdly overlooked for any awards in 2020, stating he will not be submitting himself to the Academy anymore.
The lack of respect for rappers from the Grammys is clearly mutual, with many artists speaking out against these problems. Tyler, the Creator delivered a highly critical speech after accepting his award in the Best Rap Album category for 2019’s IGOR (which, to put it bluntly, is not a rap album). “It sucks that whenever… guys that look like me do anything genre-bending, they always put it in a rap or urban category.” Other artists have shared similar sentiments in the past, too. And we can't forget that iconic video of Kanye West pissing on his award.
Things aren’t all bad, though. Common and Pete Rock’s album received a nomination despite low streaming numbers, and the same can be said for Doechii’s project. It would be easy to say these are just nominated for the Grammys to appear like they actually listen to rap, only to hand J. Cole or Eminem the trophy. But Killer Mike winning the award last year over Drake, Travis Scott and Nas suggests otherwise. Steps are being made, but we’re a far way from the problem being solved, and simply adding a few more non-white members to the voting board won’t change anything. Nothing will change until the Grammys starts to treat rappers not as black artists, but as artists.