Vibe Vibe
  • News
    • Entertainment
    • National
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Movies & TV
  • Music
    • Videos
    • New Releases
    • Live Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Music Premieres
  • Features
    • Digital Covers
    • Opinion
    • Lists
  • Style
    • Fashion
    • Lifestyle
  • Vixen
  • Viva

Follow Vibe

The Vibe Mix Newsletter

All things VIBE. Daily - Straight to your inbox.
Whoops!
By subscribing, I agree to the
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
All things VIBE. You have signed up and will start receiving the Vibe Mix Newsletter immediately.
Entertainment National Sports Events Movies & TV

10 Times The Grammy Awards Did Hip-Hop Justice

February 10, 2017 - 10:13 am by Preezy Brown TWITTER

Before the 2017 Grammy Awards, let's recap all the times Music's Biggest Night got hip-hop right. 

Labeled as Music's Biggest Night, the 59th Annual Grammy Awards takes place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday (Feb 12). The annual celebration of the best artists, songs, and visuals in music over the past year has some big hip-hop categories this year -- in terms of the nominees -- and has been the talk of our office.

READ: 59 Rare Facts About the Grammy Awards

While all genres will be represented and acknowledged, VIBE is keeping a particular eye on the rap stars who garnered nominations. With names like Drake, Chance the Rapper, and Anderson .Paak scoring nods in three of the four major categories, hip-hop has yet another chance to rise to the occasion and compete against the best in all of music. It's an opportunity which hasn't always been afforded to the culture in the past.

READ: In A Perfect World, Here Are Our 2017 Grammy Award Winners

Hip-Hop and the Grammy's relationship with one another is a checkered one that started off on the wrong foot in 1989 when the award show refused to televise the first award presentation for the Best Rap Song award, leading to winners DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince to boycott the ceremony. Although the Grammy committee would right that wrong, it was just the first of many instances in which the Grammys were not as respectful to hip-hop culture, its music, or their artists. All the missteps lead to a decade filled with snubs and a lack of representation throughout the '90s. This was particularly painful when it comes to the four major awards presented: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.

READ: From Lauryn Hill To Kanye West, Here Are The Most Memorable Speeches In Grammy History

However, over the years, the Grammy committee has slowly, but surely, come around to hip-hop, which has reflected in a few of our brightest stars making history. More recently, hip-hoppers have beat out some of the biggest acts in all of music. With the show around the corner, we've decided to highlight 10 instances which the Grammy committee actually got it right and gave our artists and producers their just due.

1
11

1991 -- MC Hammer Nominated For Record Of The Year
2
11

1991 -- MC Hammer Nominated For Record Of The Year

In 1991, MC Hammer became the first rapper to be nominated in one of the Grammy's top four honors for his seismic single "U Can't Touch This" which earned him a nod for Record of the Year. Pitted against mainstream stars like Mariah Carey, and musical icons like Bette Midler and Sinead O'Conner, MC Hammer ultimately joined them as runner-ups to Phil Collins, whose song "Another Day in Paradise" put him over the top. Although MC Hammer fell short in this category, he did manage to become the first rapper to win a non rap-related Grammy award, taking home hardware for Best Music Film, which was a pretty solid consolation prize . The pop culture phenom put the musical world on notice that hip-hop would soon be crashing the party.
1993 -- Arrested Development Wins Best New Artist
3
11

1993 -- Arrested Development Wins Best New Artist

Rap group Arrested Development made a big splash with their debut album, 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... in 1992, which included the hit singles "People Everyday," "Tennessee," and "Mr. Wendel." All aforementioned songs peaked in the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Gaining widespread acclaim, the group would be nominated for the Best New Artist Award and become the first rap act to take home the trophy, beating out acts like Billy Ray Cyrus, Jon Secada, Sophie B. Hawkins, and fellow rap group Kriss Kross. The win was a big coup for hip-hop and made history as the first time a hip-hop act won one of the four major categories at the awards show.
1999 -- Lauryn Hill Wins Best New Artist and AOTY
4
11

1999 -- Lauryn Hill Wins Best New Artist and AOTY

Lauryn Hill received her first Grammy nominations as part of the Fugees, taking home two trophies at the 1997 awards. Two years later, she would break ground in a major way, winning the award for Best New Artist, as well as Album of the Year for her 1998 debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Besting monstrous acts like Madonna, Shania Twain, and Sheryl Crow and she became the first rap artist to win the show's most prestigious award. Lauryn Hill's victory helped break the glass ceiling that had held rap back at the Grammys in the previous years --- symbolizing progress for the culture.

2001 -- Dr. Dre Wins Producer Of The Year
5
11

2001 -- Dr. Dre Wins Producer Of The Year

After departing from Death Row Records in 1996 to launch his own record label, Aftermath Records, Dr. Dre returned to form by 1999. With a new focus, the legend unleashed albums from himself and Eminem --- all of which were certified multi-platinum. Nominated for two Grammy awards in 2000, but walking away with no hardware, Dr. Dre dominated the awards show the following year, garnering six nominations in total and winning in three categories. The most prestigious came in the form of his Producer of the Year trophy. Pitted against Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Bill Bottrell, Nigel Godrich, and Matt Serletic, Dr. Dre became the first rap producer to win Producer of the Year, proving that the Grammy's are not totally clueless when it comes to the power and sonic quality and value of hip-hop.
2004 -- Outkast Wins Artist Of The Year
6
11

2004 -- Outkast Wins Artist Of The Year

After Outkast's fourth studio album, Stankonia, made its way into the Grammy's Album of the Year category in 2002, the duo's 2003 effort, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, was also nominated for the award show's top honor in 2004. Only this time, Outkast were able to edge out the comp, beating out Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake, Evanecense, and The White Stripes to become the second rap act in history to win to win Album of the Year --- and the last act to achieve that feat to date.
2004 -- Neptunes Win Producer Of The Year
7
11

2004 -- Neptunes Win Producer Of The Year

The Neptunes played a major role in shifting the sound of rap and pop music throughout the aughts. Consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, the Virginia bred prodducers were honored for their contributions at the 2004 Grammy Awards. Named Producer of the Year by the Grammy committee after a monstrous 2003, which saw them score hits for pop stars like Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, as well as rap titans like Jay Z, Busta Rhymes, Common, and Snoop Dogg, The Neptunes became the second rap production duo to win the award. Ousting heavy contenders like Outkast, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Nigel Godrich, The Neptunes' win was another step towards the Grammy's fully embracing hip-hop.
2004 -- Eminem Wins 2 Grammys Awards
8
11

2004 -- Eminem Wins 2 Grammys Awards

Another time when The Grammys got it right was when the committee nominated Eminem in the Song of the Year category for his single "Lose Yourself," making him the first rapper in history to get the nod. In a field that included smash hits from Avril Lavigne, Christina Aguilera, and Warren Zevon, Eminem was a heavy contender for the honor, but was ultimately a runner-up to Luther Vandross, whose "Dance with My Father" single was selected as the winner. However, a rap artist even getting into the category was a pretty big deal for hip-hop and a bright spot in rap's relationship with the Grammys.
2006 -- Missy Wins Video Of The Year
9
11

2006 -- Missy Wins Video Of The Year

Rap music has always been big on visuals, but was freezed out of the Grammy's Video of the Year category until 2001, when Busta Rhymes earned a nod for the music video to his song "Fire," which helped break the ice concerning the committee's lack of love towards rap-friendly visuals. The subsequent years would see an increase in rap artist being nominated for the award, with 2003 serving as a highlight for the genre, with three rap videos being nominated and Eminem becoming the first rap artist to win the award. However, since many rap fans felt Nas' "One Mic" would've been the better choice, we'll say the one time the Grammy's truly got the Video of the Year award right was in 2006, when Missy Elliott won for the music video to "Lose Control." Having become one of the more iconic rap artists when it comes to mind-bending visuals, it was only right that Missy take the trophy home, which earned the Grammy's a nod of approval from the rap community.
2011 -- Record Of The Year Category
10
11

2011 -- Record Of The Year Category

Rap music may have dominated the Billboard charts for more than a decade by the time the 2011 Grammy Awards rolled around, only six rap songs had been nominated in the Record of the Year Category at that point in time. However, in 2011, the Grammy committee showed major love to hip-hop, nominating three rap songs, as well as a song from rapper-turned-singer Ceelo Green, resulting in four of the five nominees being products of hip-hop. Although Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" would be awarded the trophy, having rap songs like B.O.B.'s "Nothin' on You," Eminem's "Love The Way You Lie," and Jay Z's "Empire State of Mind" up for one of the major awards and serving as a majority of the nominations was another stride for the Grammy awards in showing their respect for rap music.
2015 -- Kendrick Lamar Sweeps Rap Categories
Getty Images
11
11

2015 -- Kendrick Lamar Sweeps Rap Categories

It's rare for a rapper to be nominated in multiple categories outside of the rap related ones at the Grammy Awards, but Kendrick Lamar isn't your normal rap artist.

Coming off the release of his critically acclaimed To Pimp A Butterfly album, Dot was robbed in the eyes of many at the 2014 show, where his debut album, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, was bested by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' The Heist -- and it nearly caused a revolt in the rap community.

But in 2016, Kendrick was vindicated and swept all four of the rap categories. He earned nominations for Song of the Year and Album of the Year. Although Kendrick would lose in both categories, it was a clear sign that the Grammys had seen the error in their ways and decided to right their wrongs.

In This Story:
  • Awards,
  • cee-lo green,
  • Eminem,
  • Empire State,
  • grammy 2017,
  • Grammys,
  • grammys 2017,
  • Grammys2017
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • EMAIL ME
4
View the next gallery
'John Wick: Chapter 2' Unveils New Images Feat. Common And Keanu Reeves

The Vibe Mix Newsletter

All things VIBE. Daily - Straight to your inbox.
Whoops!
By subscribing, I agree to the
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
All things VIBE. You have signed up and will start receiving the Vibe Mix Newsletter immediately.

Top Stories

Features

4h ago

Lupe Fiasco Talks New World Water And Why Conscious Music Works

Music

5h ago

Offset, Kehlani, And More Friday Music Releases You Need To Hear

Lists

1d ago

Tamla Horsford: 6 Things To Know About Her Mysterious Death

  • News
  • Music
  • Features
  • Style
  • Vixen
  • Viva
  • Contact Us

Vibe.com is an affiliate site of Billboard, a subsidiary of Prometheus Global Media, LLC.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Ad Choices
  • Copyright
  • Billboard
  • The Hollywood Reporter
  • SPIN
  • VIBE
  • Stereogum