One of the most hyped-up events in music every year is the Grammys, the crown jewel of all music award shows. On November 8th, 2024, the Grammys released their nominations for their categories, which many, including me, found to be very disappointing, particularly in rap. In a year where rap had arguably never been more mainstream, due to the very well-known feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, rap received no love for album of the year, receiving 0 nominations (not counting rap legend André 3000 who did receive a nomination for his album New Blue Sun, where he played the flute). 

While “Not Like Us” received a nomination for Song of the Year, fans were still left a bit disappointed with being left out of the running for Album of the Year for two consecutive years. Not to mention, the nominations for Rap Album of the Year were a bit disappointing. There were notable snubs such as Blue Lips by ScHoolboy Q, American Dream by 21 Savage, Dark Times by Vince Staples, and Hardstone Psycho by Don Toliver, among other great albums. 

While yes, there are only 5 spots available, it’s hard not to feel that two spots here feel incredibly wasted. J Cole’s Might Delete Later quite literally lived up to its name, as the final track, “7 Minute Drill” (diss directed at Kendrick Lamar) was deleted from streaming platforms. The rest of the album was a bit disappointing and far from his best efforts. The other spot it’s hard not to feel is wasted is The Death Of Slim Shady by Eminem. It feels like this album is here simply because it’s by Eminem. To keep it brief, the majority of the album is very corny and is far from Eminem’s best work. So, is it true that the Grammy’s don’t appreciate rap, or is it just down to incompetence?

For starters, let’s first analyze the Album of the Year award. The last time a rap album won Album of the Year was in 2004, which was won by Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by Outkast. It is the last album by the duo, which is basically a double album, with Speakerboxxx by Big Boi, and The Love Below by André 3000. It is most well known for the number one single, “Hey Ya!” Since then, several albums, which are viewed as all-time classics, have come out. The College Dropout, Graduation, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (all by Kanye West), Tha Carter III(Lil Wayne), Good Kid, m.A.A.d City, To Pimp A Butterfly (both by Kendrick Lamar), 2014 Forest Hills Drive (J Cole), Take Care (Drake), DS2 (Future), among several others have all failed to win album of the year. 

It gets even more appalling when you realize some of these albums weren’t even nominated. Most notably, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which wasn’t even nominated for album of the year in 2012. It’s considered one of the greatest rap albums of all time, if not the greatest, with classic after classic, along with a star-studded cast of features, from Jay Z to Rihanna, all the way to Elton John. An album that truly had everything wasn’t even nominated. 

It makes even less sense, when other efforts by West, which are generally viewed as weaker, have received nominations. Including 2021’s Donda, which received mixed reviews. Outside of West, other artists like Kendrick Lamar have failed to garner the award. Good Kid, M. A.A.D. City failed to win, and somehow even failed to win rap album of the year. To Pimp A Butterfly also failed to win, despite receiving immense reviews from critics. The album is an interestingly smooth blend of Hip Hop and Jazz and is a truly innovative project. Even the commercially dominant number 1 artist in rap today, Drake, failed to win, despite having multiple albums (Views and Scorpion) nominated. Modern-day hip-hop heavyweights like Future, Tyler the Creator, and Travis Scott, among many others haven’t even garnered a nomination for album of the year. 

Flash forward to today, it has been 2 years in a row without a rap album being nominated. The most likely to have been nominated would have been WE DON’T TRUST YOU by Metro Boomin and Future. It is known for its number-one hit “Like That,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, which spawned one of if not the biggest storylines of the year. The album also has other big tracks with more notable features, including The Weeknd and Travis Scott, amongst others. 

So after back-to-back years of failing to even have a rap album nominated, the likes of all-time classics in My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, To Pimp A Butterfly, among others failing to win (in some cases even nomination), you have to ask will a rap album ever win album of the year again? The answer at this point seems uncertain.

Then, we turn to the award for Rap Album of The Year, that in itself, is constantly ruined by the Grammys. Throwing it back to 2014, the Grammys gave Rap Album of the Year to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ The Heist. Many believe this hurt Macklemore’s career more than aid it. The Heist somehow beat out Good Kid, M.A.A.d City to rap album of the year, despite the latter being widely known as one of the greatest storytelling albums of all time. It also beat out Kanye West’s revolutionary Yeezus, Drake’s Nothing Was The Same, and Jay Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail. 

The Grammy’s not only picked the wrong winner but also picked the worst possible option of the 5 choices. Flash forward to 2019, Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy won over Travis Scott’s all-time classic Astroworld, Pusha T’s classic, DAYTONA, and Mac Miller’s Swimming. This pick showed a complete lack of taste and feel of hip-hop culture by the Grammys, somehow once again picking the worst possible choice. Travis Scott was robbed again, losing out to Killer Mike’s, MICHAEL in 2024. Time after time, the Grammys continue to disappoint and show their lack of understanding of hip-hop culture.

So, what truly is it? Why do the Grammys constantly keep on snubbing and making stupid mistakes? Well, the Grammys constantly picks the safest possible choices and does its best to be as mainstream as possible. Even when you look at some of these rap albums, they’ve also been nominated for album of the year. This would include Recovery, The Heist, and Scorpion. While there’s nothing wrong with these albums, these albums are all albums made by mainstream artists with radio-friendly gigantic hits. Some of these albums didn’t even receive great reviews by critics. 

In 2018, 3 hip-hop albums were nominated for Album of the Year including Awaken My Love by Childish Gambino, DAMN by Kendrick Lamar, and 4:44 by Jay-Z. But, as you’d expect, the Grammy’s opted for the safest possible options by choosing Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic. The Grammys constantly do this over and over again, and rap tends to always be the loser of this over and over again. 

Even the winners themselves know this. Adele said this after winning Album of the Year over Beyonce’s Lemonade (which contained several elements of hip hop), “The Grammys are very traditional,” Adele told reporters after her win. “But I just thought this year would be the year that they would kind of go with the tide.” (Stacker). Many have become so fed up with the Grammy’s they don’t even bother coming. Eminem remarked, “Don’t ever ask me to come here again.” (TheThings). 

The Grammys constantly leave hip-hop fans and artists alike disappointed. With the very well-received recent releases of Tyler The Creator’s Chromakopia and Kendrick Lamar’s GNX, maybe there’s a serious chance that the Grammys may give rap the love it deserves, or we will all be left disappointed again?