The 57th annual GRAMMY Awards are in the can, and since Iggy Azalea didn’t win Best Rap Album, we don’t have to worry about Black twitter or Azealia Banks losing their respective minds today.
photo: WENN
But there’s a reason everyone from Steve Stoute, to Jay Z, to Chubb Rock has thrown shade at the GRAMMYs. It’s not exactly a Hip-Hop friendly awards show, and truth be told, it’s never presented itself as such. That doesn’t mean you can’t catch feelings over these classic Rap albums that never won GRAMMYs.
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Photo: WENN
Nas: Illmatic
Believe it or not, the project considered to be Nas’ best album lost to Naughty By Nature’s Poverty’s Paradise.
Notorious B.I.G.: Life After Death
You had to figure someone from Bad Boy was winning the GRAMMY that year. In what now seems like a case of foreshadowing, Puff Daddy overshadowed his artist and took home a win for Puff Daddy & The Family’s No Way Out.
OutKast: Aquemeni
Jay Z’s Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life gave us the crazy Annie sample, ‘Hov spitting over Timbaland beats and more. But OutKast’s Aquemeni was mind altering. In theory, the committee could’ve righted this wrong by giving Jay Best Rap Solo Performance instead of Will Smith. That way The Beastie Boys would’ve kept Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group while Aquemeni took home the Best Rap Album award.
A Tribe Called Quest: The Low End Theory
That GRAMMY eligibility window is a tricky thing. The Low End Theory was released about a month before albums became eligible for consideration. Would it have won? As dope as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince’s “Summertime” was and still is, “Scenario” would have made a worthy contender.
Mobb Deep: The Infamous
So 1995 was that rare year women swept the awards, and it intuitively feels like Queen Latifah and Salt-N-Pepa should keep those trophies, right? We’re just gonna float out the possibility of Hav and P mean mugging you from the podium.
Boogie Down Productions: By All Means Necessary
In 1988 the GRAMMY committee had no love for Hip-Hop, as there was no category.
Public Enemy: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back
Chalk this one up to another case of the GRAMMY Awards not caring about Rap (message!). We didn’t get a Best Rap category until 1991, and it initially wasn’t even televised.
Ice Cube: AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted
This is what happens when two of the greatest rappers of all time (coincidentally they both act as well now) have to go up against one another. Which album would you pick, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted or the GRAMMY winner, LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out?
Killer Mike: R.A.P. Music
Picking between Killer Mike’s R.A.P. Music and Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city for a GRAMMY would’ve been the ultimate Hip-Hop nerd argument. But Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won, and Killer Mike wasn’t even nominated, so we’ll never know.
Wu-Tang Clan: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Let the record show that the committee gave this award to Digable Planets, and we’ll just keep it moving.
Dr. Dre: 2001
Who didn’t have this album on repeat? You’d have to reshuffle some deck chairs and give the Best Rap Solo Performance to Jay Z instead of Will Smith (sorry, not sorry Will). That would free up The Beastie Boys to keep their Gramophone, and open up a spot for the good doctor.
Jay Z: The Blueprint
If you subscribe to the debatable theory that The Blueprint was in fact a classic, then you still have to find a way to award this album without giving love to Missy Elliott (Best Rap Solo Performance) or OutKast for Stankonia (Best Rap Album). Chalk this one up to a crowded field, and remember that “Izzo (H.O.V.A)” did at least get a nomination.
Jay Z: The Black Album
Now this is where Jay Z fans have a legitimate gripe. After dominating the charts, Nelly finally got his GRAMMY love, but it came at the expense of The Black Album being shut out. “Hot In Herre” won Best Rap Solo Performance, and what was arguably one of Eminem’s weaker albums—The Eminem Show—won Best Rap Album…
Scarface: The Fix
Of course, everyone would’ve had to bow down if this award went to its rightful owner. That would be one Brad Jordan (aka Scarface) for his 2002 classic, The Fix.
Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Part II
This was never going to happen in a million years, but we all know Rae’s epic sequel was better than Eminem rhyming in that Swedish accent and making Kardashian jokes. Somehow Em’s Relapse still won.
Kendrick Lamar: good kid, m.A.A.d city
That text message from Macklemore said it all.
