Jacob Webster; Universal Music Latino/Republic Records; Ovo/Republic Records
Last 12 months the Grammys acquired combined reactions when their rap discipline winners have been introduced, significantly after veteran Killer Mike beat extra business picks like Drake and Travis Scott. The wins, regardless of what anybody says, present that the Grammys are centered on rewarding not gross sales however high quality — or no matter they understand as high quality a minimum of. That bodes effectively for this 12 months’s upcoming Grammy nominations, the place we’d get a mixture of veterans and demanding darlings paired up with a few of the largest names in hip-hop proper now.
One of the largest contenders this 12 months is “Vultures 1,” the collaborative venture between Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign. While Ty’s Grammy observe report isn’t very spectacular, West is a full-on rap darling who’s at present the most awarded rapper in the awards’ history, tied with Jay-Z. This new album will possible get him a pair extra nominations, particularly with all of the success it has achieved. It debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200 with 148,000 equal album items regardless of having solely been out for 5 days. It has additionally discovered success on the Hot 100 singles chart, with the lead single “Carnival” changing into a number-one hit, West’s first in 13 years.
That mentioned, the album does have deficits, primarily two. First, West has been beneath fireplace constantly for the previous few years attributable to offensive comments and behavior, and voters may need grown apathetic to him after successive controversies. Second, “Vultures 1” wasn’t effectively acquired by critics, scoring 51 on Metacritic. No Best Rap Album winner has ever scored that low, and given how final 12 months voters handed over one other hit album with combined critiques (Drake and 21 Savage‘s “Her Loss”) to award a better reviewed, not so commercial album (Killer Mike’s “Michael”), we’d see that occur once more this time round.
That mentioned, voters gained’t need to look to the indies when Future and Metro Boomin are proper there. Their collaboration, “We Don’t Trust You,” has been an enormous hit, reaching the largest week for a rap album to this point this 12 months with over 251,000 items. It doesn’t have wonderful critiques — it’s at 64 on Metacritic — however that’s much better than West and Ty. The report may be carried by its singles, although, particularly the Kendrick Lamar-assisted “Like That.” The track debuted at number-one on the Hot 100 and have become buzzworthy attributable to Lamar’s killer verse taking pictures at J. Cole and Drake. The Grammys love Lamar even when his songs underperform commercially, so a smash hit from him is almost assured to be in competition for the win, particularly when he’s joined by two icons like Metro and Future.
Another huge contender this 12 months is Nicki Minaj. She has a … bizarre relationship with the Grammys you would name it. She hasn’t gained but, however the reality is that they do are inclined to nominate her when the fabric is profitable and effectively acquired. Her album “Pink Friday 2” earned constructive critiques, scoring 70 on Metacritic, and in addition turned a success, debuting at number-one with over 228,000 items. It additionally contains the viral hit singles “FTCU” and “Everybody,” in addition to Minaj’s 2022 chart-topper “Super Freaky Girl.”
Minaj may be joined by fellow feminine rapper Doja Cat along with her album “Scarlet.” While the album itself light in a short time, it nonetheless managed to provide big hits, like final 12 months’s Grammy-nominated songs “Paint the Town Red” and “Attention,” in addition to this 12 months’s hit “Agora Hills.” She can be prone to submit one thing from the deluxe reissue of the album, which could hold it prime of thoughts for a pair extra months.
And talking of feminine rappers, this may be the 12 months we lastly name Flo Milli a Grammy nominee. Her hit “Never Lose Me” has been one of many main rap hits of the previous 12 months, helped by its remix that includes SZA and Cardi B. It’s possible that Flo is within the Best Melodic Rap Performance dialog, most likely going head-to-head towards earlier nominee Jack Harlow for the win.
Harlow is definitely fairly effectively favored by rap voters, and this time round he has a probably successful ticket with “Lovin on Me,” which turned an enormous hit and topped the Hot 100 for a number of weeks. While a brand new Harlow album is but to be introduced as of this writing, it’s possible that “Lovin on Me” earns him a few nominations and, if his 12 months retains going prefer it has been, maybe a win. But whereas Harlow has better business success, Flo may need extra of a compelling narrative after years of exhausting work going unrecognized.
There are another main contenders as effectively. 21 Savage’s “American Dream” may’ve light somewhat bit as a result of greater rap releases that adopted it, nevertheless it’s nonetheless the most effective reviewed rap album that has a sensible shot at a win this 12 months to this point, with a 73 on Metacritic. The album topped the Billboard 200 and earned Savage a brand new hit with “Redrum,” which peaked at number-five on the Hot 100.
His buddy and collaborator Drake may also submit this 12 months, since his album “For All the Dogs” continues to be one of many largest (if not the largest) rap albums of the eligibility season. Drake appears to hate the Grammys when issues don’t go his means, although, so it’s unlikely that he submits. But if he does, be careful for “Rich Baby Daddy” within the Melodic Rap class, in addition to “First Person Shooter” with J. Cole in Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.
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