GRAMMY CHEW: CHEWING ON RAP

Kendrick Lamar’s lyrical dominance was arguably rap’s biggest story of 2024. Following a flurry of singles, the pgLang/Interscope heavyweight delivered the DJ Mustard-produced “Not Like Us,” which quickly catapulted to #1 on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Its cultural impact was seismic, with the NBA, NCAA, NFL and Vice President Kamala Harris weaving it into their respective fields. In fact, it was so efficacious, Kendrick will become the first rap solo act to headline the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show next February.

Par for the course, there are four categories specifically reserved for rap at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards: Best Rap Song, Best Rap Album, Best Melodic Rap Performance and Best Rap Performance. With Grammy season only getting hotter, “Not Like Us” could easily take Best Rap Song, Rap Performance and even Record of the Year, with Mustard as a top contender in the Best Producer category.

Future & Metro Boomin, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott

But that’s not to say Kendrick doesn’t have some stiff competition in the Best Rap Song category. Bet on Tommy Richman’s breakout behemoth, “MILLION DOLLAR BABY” (ISO Supremacy/PULSE), putting up a good fight. Same goes for Eminem, whose “Houdini” (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) carried some magic of its own. The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) cut abracadabra’d its way to #1 around the world, undoubtedly securing a place in multiple categories.

We also fully expect Future & Metro Boomin’s “Like That” (Boominati/Freebandz/Epic) to collect a nod. The catalytic track, taken from the duo’s collaborative album We Don’t Trust You, soared to #1. It marked Future and Kendrick’s third #1 single and Metro’s first. Travis Scott’s UTOPIA monster “FEiN” f/Playboi Carti (Cactus Jack/Epic) raged on the charts as well. Although Scott’s latest #1 album, the 10-year anniversary edition of Days Before Rodeo, didn’t make the Grammy deadline, the double-platinum “FEiN” was right on time, making the battle for Best Rap Song even more compelling. Could Scott’s electrifying performance at last year’s Grammys give him the leg up? Perhaps. But 21 Savage’s American Dream (Slaughterhouse Gang/Epic) and the London on Da Track-produced “Redrum” could shine, too.

Expect 10K Projects/Capitol breakout star and 2023 Best New Artist nominee Ice Spice to twerk her way into the category with “Think U the Shit (Fart)”—yes, we can’t believe that’s the name of it either—which could be looking at a couple categories. Jack Harlow’s “Lovin’ on Me” (Atlantic) made its way to #1 this year and is big enough to get tossed in the ring, as is Travis Scott’s single “FEiN” f/Playboi Carti (Cactus Jack/Epic).

And we certainly can’t count out Nicki Minaj, who finally released her Pink Friday sequel (Young Money/Republic) in December 2023. The album was supported by five singles, including the Rick James-sampled “Super Freaky Girl,” “Everybody” f/Lil Uzi Vert and “FTCU.” While any of them could be a contender for Best Rap Song and Performance, we predict “FTCU” will take the cake. Then again, with Nicki’s historically complicated and (at times) contentious relationship with the Grammys, she might not get considered at all. She has 10 nominations and not a single win, despite her undeniably monstrous impact. Not to mention she was snubbed last year and went on a furious Instagram rant, telling Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. exactly how she felt. Will the Grammys finally see fit to award Nicki’s years of service?

That all depends.

Nicki Minaj, Jack Harlow, GloRilla

Female rappers are omnipresent—and there’s a lot of them. CMG/Interscope’s GloRilla made noise this year with “Wanna Be” f/Megan Thee Stallion, an ensuing remix with Cardi B, “TGIF” and “Yeah Glo!.” Then there’s Doja Cat, whose Scarlet album was ineligible last year due to its release date but yielded the massive hit “Paint the Town Red” (Kemosabe/RCA). Open Shift/gamma.’s Sexyy Red is still thriving in her moment and could shake things up with her gold-certified single “Get It Sexyy.” Latto, too, sweetened the pot this year with her third album, Sugar Honey Iced Tea (Streamcut/RCA), which produced the “Sunday Service” remix f/Megan Thee Stallion and Flo Milli.

As for Best Rap Album, we don’t need a crystal ball to predict Eminem’s The Death of Slim Shady will make an appearance alongside Future & Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You. 21 Savage’s American Dream should also pop up. Its robust features list—which includes Doja Cat, Young Thug and Travis Scott—pushed it to #1 upon its release. Childish Gambino—the musical alter ego of Donald Glover and a Grammy darling—dropped Bando Stone & the New World on RCA, marking another intriguing chapter in the versatile artist’s colorful catalog. Big Glo’s debut mixtape, Ehhthang Ehhthang, will likely wind up in there too, while Megan Thee Stallion, who released her self-titled project in June under Hot Girl/Warner, could get thrown in the mix along with Ice Spice’s Y2K!.

Ice Spice, Bossman Dlow, Ice Spice

Rapsody, though outside of mainstream rap’s formulaic aesthetic, released Please Don’t Cry (Jamla/Roc Nation), her follow-up to 2019’s critically acclaimed EVE. Features included Lil Wayne, Erykah Badu and Hit-Boy, and the project was lauded among hip-hop purists who value lyricism over hype. We’re considering it a wild card in the Best Rap Album category but won’t be surprised if it gets overlooked. Speaking of wild cards, Pete Rock and Common’s collaborative album, The Auditorium Vol. 1 (Loma Vista), proved people are still starving for classic hip-hop. Could that sneak in there too?

While it wasn’t exactly a banner year for hip-hop, there were still enough worthy releases to keep fans satiated. ScHoolboy Q dropped potential Best Rap Album nom Blue Lips (TDE), J. Cole delivered Might Delete Later (Dreamville/Interscope), Drake dropped several singles on his Finsta account that wound up on DSPs under the title 100 Gigs (OVO/Republic), Alamo’s BossMan Dlow came through with Mr. Beat the Road, That Mexican OT spit out a heater with “02.02.99” and Giant’s Cash Cobain caught some attention with “Attitude” f/Don Toliver and Charlie Wilson. Def Jam flagship artist LL COOL J just missed the eligibility period with his critically acclaimed album The FORCE, his first new project in more than a decade, but his singles “Saturday Night Special” f/Fat Joe and Rick Ross and “Murdergram Deux” f/Eminem could get some significant action. Two other Def Jam artists, Big Sean and Vince Staples, were busy too. Will they somehow factor in?

Admittedly, it’s hard to imagine anyone besting Kendrick, who’s more decorated than a Christmas tree. But as we always say, Grammys do what Grammys want. Pass the popcorn.