10 Times The Grammy Awards Did Hip-Hop Justice
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
1991 -- MC Hammer Nominated For Record Of The Year
1993 -- Arrested Development Wins Best New Artist
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
2004 -- Outkast Wins Artist Of The Year
2004 -- Neptunes Win Producer Of The Year
2004 -- Eminem Wins 2 Grammys Awards
2006 -- Missy Wins Video Of The Year
2011 -- Record Of The Year Category
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.
