Hip-Hop and the Grammy Awards have had one of the strangest relationships. Although rappers know that the Grammys aren’t the end all, be all, when it comes to judging Hip-Hop, nobody will ever deny how big of a deal it is to actually win one.
The Grammys are the pinnacle of music award shows, yet they’ve always managed to do at least one solid injustice to the culture.
The show only scratches the surface. After some in depth research, we look through some of the most peculiar and head-scratching facts about the Grammy Awards. Check out all of our interesting finding below.
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Photo: Getty
Gwen Stefani has won the same amount of Rap Grammys as , Nas,
Drake,
50 Cent, and
Busta Rhymes combined.
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Gwen Stefani along with Eve as the first winner of the category for “Best Rap/Sung collaboration” for “Let Me Blow Your Mind.” On the flip side of that, between Nas, Drizzy, 50 and Busta they’ve all been nominated for 37 total Grammy Awards. The only one taken home by the collective was by 50 Cent for his contribution to Eminem’s “Crack A Bottle” with Dr. Dre.
Eminem has been nominated for and won Best Rap Album for each of his solo albums but one
The Grammy sure made a big stink about Eminem when he first got on the scene. Even though his lyrics were controversial, they have awarded him with the “Best Rap Album” award for every single one of his album’s except for Encore, losing out to Kanye West’s Late Registration.
Relapse, which Eminem himself panned, beat out albums from Mos Def, Common, and Q-Tip.
The award for “Best Rap Performance” Has Never Been Accepted On Television
Although this exact Grammy has only been awarded three times, there’s never been a rapper present to accept the award on television. The first time it was awarded to Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince for “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” the award wasn’t televised and Smith boycotted the show. Young MC controversially beat out Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power” the next year and the award would be split into Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
The award was resurrected in 2012 and was given to Kanye West and Jay-Z for “Otis,” neither of which attended the show to accept the award.
The Lonely Island have been nominated for a Rap Grammy.
Yeah, that happened. The comedy trio shared rap billin’ with Jay-Z, Kanye West, and T.I. when they were up for “Best Rap/Sung collaboration” for “I’m On A Boat.”
MC Hammer is the only rapper ever to win “Best Long Form Music Video” At The Grammys
MC Hammer wasted a ton of money in his life, but at least he’s got a Grammy to show for it. Directed by Rupert Wainwright, who went on to direct Stigmata, Blank Check and The Fog, it was his work for “Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt Em” that earned him a Grammy for “Best Long Form Music Video.”
Dr. Dre and
The Neptunes are the only Hip-Hop artists ever to win Producer Of The Year
One would think that Hip-Hop producers of today would be the ones who would dominate the Producer Of The Year category, Non-Classical. Not the case. Only the Neptunes and Dr. Dre have ever taken home the hardware with their basis in Hip-Hop. Rick Rubin has also won the award but he’s done much more notable work in the areas of rock and folk music as well as Hip-Hop.
Arrested Development and
Lauryn Hill are the only two Hip-Hop artists to ever win “Best New Artist”
The biggest crapshoot of the show is the “Best New Artist” category. Basically telling the world that these nominated artists are special ones to watch in the coming years are always a heavy burden to bare. Some people never even scratch the surface. Tone Loc, Kriss Kross, Diddy, Erykah Badu, 50 Cent, Kanye West, Drake, J.Cole, and Nicki Minaj have all been nominated for the award but all have lost.
Nas has never won a single Grammy
Nine nominations and no wins? The picture says it all, c’mon son. Nas might be the biggest example of the Grammy’s disconnect with real Hip-Hop. Never has a rapper been so decorated within the community, yet shunned by the biggest music award show.
Kanye West is the 5th most Grammy-nominated artist of All-Time,
Jay-Z is 6th.
They both have a ways to go before catching Quincy Jones as the most nominated Grammy artists at 79, but they are on the right path. Kanye edges out his mentor Jay-Z as he’s earned 51 nominations to date to Jigga’s 49. Both edged out artists like U2 and Mrs Jay-Z herself, Beyonce Knowles.
Snoop Dogg is the 3rd most nominated artist of all-time who has never won a Grammy.
Only trailing Brian McKnight by two nominations, Snoop’s 14 nominations without a single win has got to be some sort of travesty. With as many timeless rap songs that the D-O-G-G has, you’d think he’d be able to at least snatch one of these by accident.
