Rap has become one of the largest genres of music over the years, especially among the youth. With listeners coming from all backgrounds and walks of life, the notoriously rebellious teenage spirit seems to embrace the rule-breaking and dangerous characteristics of rap music. Thus, starting in 1996, the Grammys, seeing this influx in rap listeners, began offering the award for best rap album of the year to not only congratulate the artists but also attract more viewers. However, those in charge of voting for the Grammys have had some shortcomings in their decisions over the years, and this year proved no different.
Although, before diving into the atrocities of this year’s decisions, it is important to note some specific instances of dissatisfaction from the rap community caused by unagreeable, and maybe even plain wrong, decisions made by the academy.
Notably, one of the worst mistakes made by the academy regarding the best rap album of the year occurred in 2014. White rapper Macklemore won the awards for best rap performance, song, and album with his album The Heist, robbing Kendrick Lamar whom some regard as one of the best rappers of all time and whom all agree should have won. Upon listening to both albums, it is almost unbelievable how one could even consider Macklemore’s album to be better than Kendrick’s.
Even if the situation was free of unjust factors affecting the final decision, it surely looks as if race played a role, leaving a poor taste in the viewer’s mouths.
Unfortunately, this is not the academy’s only shortfall, for in 2018 they robbed Travis Scott of his Grammy for his record-shattering album ASTROWORLD, giving it instead to Cardi B for her album Invasion of Privacy. With Scott’s album being the music that defined the rap era at the time, viewers lost almost all faith in the academy after Cardi B won.
This year avid rap listeners have been spoiled with numerous fantastic albums from their favorite artists, leading to discussions and debates concerning which album would win the Grammys this year. Many listeners thought that Travis Scott would finally be honored for his new album UTOPIA; others thought that Drake and 21 Savage’s collaboration album Her Loss would take home the trophy, and no one can forget about producer Metro Boomin’s album Heroes & Villains which contains features from every big name in the rap industry.
Therefore, it was almost unbelievable when Killer Mike’s album Michael won all three awards for best rap song, album, and performance. In fact, on a poll held by the Rap Instagram account, which has 12 million followers, only 1.5% of people voted for Killer Mike to win of those nominated. This clearly shows how the academy does not reflect what the people think.
After the Grammys, Killer Mike still has only 4.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify, compared to Nas’s 10 million, Travis Scott’s 65 million, Drake’s 85 million, and Metro Boomin’s 53 million, again showing the disconnect between the academy and the people.
When looking at song streaming numbers, Killer Mike’s affect on culture is no where near as loud as someone like Travis Scott. With Killer Mike’s new most popular song “SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS” having only 16 million streams compared to Travis Scott’s “I KNOW ?” with 350 million. Clearly, the people have a preference.
While Killer Mike’s album was indeed an artistic masterpiece focusing on themes of racism, gun violence, politics, and religion, it is not reflective of the rap genre at this time. Even with Killer Mike’s rap style and lyrics, the other nominees simply resonate more with the general population, causing them to have more influence on not only rap but also culture as a whole.
Drake said in his 2019 Grammy acceptance speech, “Look, the point is, you already won if you have people singing your songs word for word, if you’re a hero in your hometown.” More specifically, at the end of the day, the Grammys do not matter, especially for a genre of music known for going against the current and being rebellious. Nevertheless, if the academy is going to continue to invite and nominate rappers for the awards, they must stop wasting both the artists’ and the viewers’ time by choosing albums so clearly disregarded by the community.
With this most recent pitfall stacked with the other shortcomings of the academy in the past, it might be a long time before the academy regains its trust with rap listeners.
