Hip-Hop’s relationship with the Grammy Awards is checkered, to say the least. For the better part of the past four decades, rap artists have had to fight for the acknowledgment and respect of the mainstream and other cultural institutions, most notably the Recording Academy, which determines which artists and albums are nominated to receive awards.
Despite rap’s overwhelming popularity and impact on music, the Grammys have been slow to fully recognize the genre as worthy of their highest accolades, which include Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The Album of the Year award—which is given to the body of work or collection of songs that are deemed the most impressive by the Recording Academy—has only been won by two Hip-Hop artists: Lauryn Hill for her 1998 album, Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and Outkast for their 2003 double-album, Speakerboxx/The Love Below.
That figure is shockingly small, given the number of Hip-Hop albums that have captivated the public and dominated the charts while earning critical acclaim as musical masterpieces. This, among other gripes, is why a segment of rap fans and figures are on the brink of boycotting the annual awards show, with some having already made that decision due to past perceived transgressions by the Recording Academy. And with superstars like Kanye West, Drake, Jay-Z, and others who’ve voiced their disenchantment with the Grammys, only time will tell if the Grammys will get their act together or if Hip-Hop will opt out of vying for their acceptance completely.
In light of the dissension between the Grammys and the Hip-Hop community, VIBE highlights 10 instances in which rap albums were robbed in the Album of the Year category at the Grammy Awards.
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'The Score'
Image Credit: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images Artist: Fugees
Year: 1997
Winner: Celine Dion, Falling into You
Bouncing back from their commercially underwhelming debut, Fugees regrouped with their second and last full-length release as a unit, which ended 1996 as the third best-selling album of the year and the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 year-end chart. Radio smashes like the chart-topping single “Killing Me Softly” and the popular cut “Ready or Not,” The Score won awards for Best Rap Album, as well as Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “Killing Me Softly,” but their Album of the Year nod didn’t manifest in another award speeches.
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'No Way Out'
Image Credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images Artist: Puff Daddy
Year: 1998
Winner: Bob Dylan, Time Out of Mind
1997 was a somber year for Hip-Hop due to the passing of The Notorious B.I.G. on March 9, which left a major void within the music world. Making the transition from executive to artist, Puff Daddy rounded up the Bad Boy family for the creation of his debut album, No Way Out, the LP that memorialized his fallen artists and friend while also symbolizing rap’s growing popularity in the U.S. Featuring the chart-topping singles “I’ll Be Missing You,” the first rap song to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100, “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” “It’s All About the Benjamins” and “Been Around the World,” No Way Out earned Puff five nominations at the 40th Grammy Awards, including a win for Best Rap Album. However, No Way Out was shut out of the Album of the Year category despite having one of the best-selling albums of 1997, proving the Recording Academy had yet to fully acknowledge Hip-Hop.
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'The Marshall Mathers LP'
Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images Artist: Eminem
Year: 2001
Winner: Steely Dan, Two Against Nature
Eminem’s release of this blockbuster effort made for one of the most significant moments in Hip-Hop history, as it sold 1.78 million copies in its first week—a record that’s yet to be broken by another rap album. Mixing the commercial appeal of hit records like “The Real Slim Shady,” “The Way I Am,” and “Stan” with the shock value of “Kill You” and “Kim,” The Marshall Mathers LP won the Best Rap Album award as well as Best Rap Solo Performance for “The Real Slim Shady.” Unfortunately, his nomination for Album of the Year didn’t yield similar results.
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'Stankonia'
Image Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images Artist: Outkast
Year: 2002
Winner: Various Artists, O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack
Another rap release that was a pivotal moment for the culture was this expansive offering from Outkast, which marked their ascension from critical darlings into the consciousness of the mainstream. Winning the award for Best Rap Album for Stankonia and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for “Ms. Jackson,” Outkast was bested by the soundtrack to the 2001 film Brother, Where Art Thou? in the Album of the Year category. Hip-Hop once again came up short in regards to the Recording Academy’s most prominent awards.
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'Get Rich Or Die Tryin''
Image Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for STARZ Artist: 50 Cent
Year: 2004
Winner: Outkast, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
50 Cent not only shook up the rap game, but the music world as a whole with his 2003 debut, which ended the year as the best-selling album in the U.S. Boasting chart-topping hits like “In Da Club” and “21 Questions,” Get Rich or Die Tryin’ was certainly one of the most impactful and critically-acclaimed releases of the year, which made its exclusion from the Album of the Year category at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards that more criminal. While Outkast’s Speakerboxx/The Love Below ultimately took home the hardware, and deservedly in hindsight, it’s highly debatable which album truly defined the year 2003.
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'Late Registration'
Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images Artist: Kanye West
Year: 2006
Winner: U2, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
After receiving his first Album of the Year nomination for his 2004 debut The College Dropout, Kanye West doubled up with his second for his monstrous sophomore album, Late Registration, which helped stamp the Chicagoan as a musical genius. Pushing musical boundaries with his genre-blending production, Ye’s ambitious long-player earned him eight nominations at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards with West picking up wins in the Best Rap Album, Best Rap Solo Performance, and Best Rap Song categories. Alas, the award for Album of the Year was given to legacy act U2, great musicians in their own right. But for a generational icon to not have what some pundits refer to as his magnum opus rewarded with the most coveted award in music, it just doesn’t sit right.
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'Tha Carter III'
Image Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Neiman Marcus Artist: Lil Wayne
Year: 2009
Winner: Robert Plant & Alison, Raising Sand
Lil Wayne completed his evolution from runt of the Hot Boys litter to bonafide megastar with the third installment in his Tha Carter series, which was the runaway pick for the top rap album of the year. While Weezy earned that honor, as well as two additional trophies for Best Rap Song (“Lollipop”) and Best Solo Rap Performance (“A Milli”) at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, he failed to secure the most prestigious honor of the night, Album of the Year. Losing out to an album that probably hasn’t received the reverence equal to that of Tha Carter III by the average consumer, Weezy’s defeat continued to raise questions about the Recording Academy’s true appreciation and respect for the culture.
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'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'
Image Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for ACE Awards Artist: Kanye West
Year: 2012
Winner: Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
With his infamous stage crash of Taylor Swift VMA’s moment and his relationship with Amber Rose behind him, Kanye weathered through the storms of his professional and personal life, which helped inform this album. Although it won the Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration awards, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy wasn’t included in the Album of the Year nominations at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards at all, a Grammy snub that’s one of the more egregious in recent memory.
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'To Pimp A Butterfly'
Image Credit: Samir Hussein/Redferns Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Year: 2016
Winner: Taylor Swift, 1989
His losses in the Best New Artist and Best Rap Album categories two years prior contributed to the overwhelming amount of backlash from the Hip-Hop community towards the Recording Academy. Kendrick Lamar’s sophomore album yielded him several nominations at the 58th Grammy Awards. Sweeping the rap categories, Kendrick tallied 11 nominations, the most for any rapper in one year, but lost the Album of the Year award to Taylor Swift’s 1989, a decision that remains controversial and served as a referendum on the relationship between the Grammy committee and the culture.
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'Invasion Of Privacy'
Image Credit: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Whipshots Artist: Cardi B
Year: 2019
Winner: Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour
Her stint as a reality television star may have caused many to underestimate her talent as an artist, but Cardi B silenced all the naysayers with the success of her debut album, which has become the most decorated album from a female rapper in history. Following up her chart-topping single “Bodak Yellow” and Latin-tinged “I Like It,” Cardi B earned several nominations at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, which she ultimately lost.