The Official Hip Hop Grammy's 2021 Thread

[Ziggiy]

The Weeknd announces he will no longer submit future projects for Grammy nominations


When the 2021 Grammy Award nominations were announced in November, thousands of people were stunned to see that the Weeknd — one of the most commercially and critically successful artists of the past year, whose single “Blinding Lights” just became the first song ever to spend a full year in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 — was not nominated for any awards.

The inexplicable and/or suspicious snub, the biggest in Grammy history, could only be explained as the work of the “secret committees” of industry veterans, executives and artists who determine the nominees in certain, but not all, categories. The work of the committees was singled out in a legal complaint by Deborah Dugan, who was ousted as president/CEO of the Recording Academy after just eight months, as a symbol of longstanding corruption within the Grammy bureaucracy. While the Weeknd and his team had basically allowed the situation to die down in recent weeks, as he performed as the Super Bowl’s headlining halftime performer last month, it flared up again on the Thursday before the Grammys when he said in a statement to the New York Times that he will boycott the awards, at least until change is instituted.


The Weeknd 'Will No Longer Submit My Music to the Grammys' - Variety

 

[tremonthustler1]

He’s 100% right. Anyone who wins the big awards this year is gonna win it knowing The Weekend woulda won their Grammy

 

[Piff Perkins]

Freddie Gibbs says that as a fan, if he wasn’t betting on himself he’d pick Royce or Nas to win Best Rap Album



Who, as a fan, would you want to see win if you had to pick?

As a fan, I'll probably pick Royce or Nas -- because Nas ain't never got one yet.

Royce said, "It's the culture who wins at the end of the day."

We all won, bro. We make jokes about winning, but we all already won. I don't really feel no kind of way about it. It would really be winning if they let us have a real Grammy party. That's the main thing with me. Let us get a real Grammy party off.

Freddie Gibbs Is a Happy Kid From Gary, Indiana Realizing His Grammy Dreams

That's a dope quote for Gibbs. "We all already won."

Happy for Gibbs and what the nomination is doing for his career. You don't see too many guys like that win, so late in their career. Outside of Killer Mile and El P, I can't think of too many other guys who grinded in the trenches throughout their youth before blowing up as grown ass men.

 

[darius19]

Nas should win album

Deep Reverence should win best performance, both Nip and Sean went crazy. I know Meg will win because of politics

 

[Ziggiy]

Complex Magazine predicts that Nas will win Best Rap Album but that Freddie Gibbs SHOULD win


Best Rap Album

Image via Getty/Tim Mosenfelder
Nominees: D Smoke (Black Habits), Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist (Alfredo), Jay Electronica (A Written Testimony), Nas (King’s Disease), Royce da 5’9” (The Allegory)

Who will win: Nas, King’s Disease

One of the biggest anti-Grammy gripes has been the amount of legendary rappers who haven’t won a Grammy, including Nas. He’s released numerous classics over the years, and has received over a dozen nominations, but he’s never actually won. That might finally change. There was a good amount of fuss last November when the Best Rap Album nominations were announced. The Academy must have heard the years-long complaints of rap purists who condemned the committee’s ignorance of spitters like Nas and sought to appease them with nominations that left younger favorites like Lil Baby and Roddy Ricch on the outside looking in. Our instinct is that we’ll see a paradoxical selection here as they reward the safest choice amongst their bold selections: Nas. His King’s Disease album was well-regarded for marrying Hit-Boy’s modern production to his timeless rhymes, and the Academy will figure it’s simply time to give Nas his due. No music award show body worth a damn should say they’ve never once awarded Nas, so it’ll happen here. It’s just a shame it’ll happen in a year when Alfredo is clearly the best album in the category.

Who should win: Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist, Alfredo

Let’s be straight to the point with this: Freddie Gibbs’ Alfredo is the best album in this category. Pondering whether it’s the best rap album released in the Grammy committee’s eligibility window is one thing, but amongst these choices, there’s only one real selection. Gibbs has been on fire for so long that it can’t even be considered “a run” at this point, and Alfredo is a high mark in his catalog. Alchemist gave him a perfect canvas of beats that veered from cinematic, to soulful, to brooding, and he tore through them all with melodic flows unveiling a mesh of gritty HBO-worthy drug tales, I’m the best” boasts, and his IG-banned sense of humor. As I’ve said before, there’s sonic boundary pushing that’s been rewarded in past Grammy cycles, then there’s the essence of rap: dope rhymes over dope beats. Alfredowas the best of both, which makes it the seemingly obvious choice for us. —Andre Gee

2021 Grammys Predictions: Who Will Win and Who Should Win

 

[MrRDU]

The Weeknd announces he will no longer submit future projects for Grammy nominations


When the 2021 Grammy Award nominations were announced in November, thousands of people were stunned to see that the Weeknd — one of the most commercially and critically successful artists of the past year, whose single “Blinding Lights” just became the first song ever to spend a full year in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 — was not nominated for any awards.

The inexplicable and/or suspicious snub, the biggest in Grammy history, could only be explained as the work of the “secret committees” of industry veterans, executives and artists who determine the nominees in certain, but not all, categories. The work of the committees was singled out in a legal complaint by Deborah Dugan, who was ousted as president/CEO of the Recording Academy after just eight months, as a symbol of longstanding corruption within the Grammy bureaucracy. While the Weeknd and his team had basically allowed the situation to die down in recent weeks, as he performed as the Super Bowl’s headlining halftime performer last month, it flared up again on the Thursday before the Grammys when he said in a statement to the New York Times that he will boycott the awards, at least until change is instituted.


The Weeknd 'Will No Longer Submit My Music to the Grammys' - Variety

Has 9thWonder chimed in yet

 

[SupaVillain]

Alfredo but something in me thinks nas will win it

 

[Take It In Blood]

if Nas, Jay Elect or Royce win I won't be mad

best nom list in years

modern autotune garbage rap fans are mad about this

 

[Ziggiy]

Seattle Times predicts Nas for Best Rap Album but says that Freddie SHOULD win it.


Best Rap Album
D Smoke, “Black Habits”; Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist, “Alfredo”; Jay Electronica, “A Written Testimony”; Nas, “King’s Disease”; Royce 5’9”, “The Allegory”

The Grammys have long been accused of being out of touch with hip-hop, and while the other rap categories mostly check out, the album field warrants an eyebrow raise. Absent are the young stars whose hands grip the wheel of America’s most-consumed genre, in favor of all-male artists over 35 whose technicality appeals to purists. Despite the snubs, there’s plenty to like, too. Boom bap heavyweight Nas feels like the favorite, having proved he’s not just a legacy act with his rejuvenating “King’s Disease.” But don’t discount the reclusive Jay Electronica, whose decade-in-the-making debut — essentially a collaborative album with Jay-Z — did not disappoint. If there’s any justice, however, grizzled Indiana vet Freddie Gibbs gets his first golden gramophone after steadily climbing from rap-nerd favorite to one of the genre’s most critically acclaimed artists over the past decade.

Should win: Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist, “Alfredo”

Will win: Nas, “King’s Disease”




They also predict Megan Thee Stallion for Best New Artist and Roddy Rich’s “The Box” for Best Melodic Rap Performance

Who will win — and who should win — at the 2021 Grammy Awards? Our music critic makes predictions

 

[Ziggiy]

San Diego Tribune predicts Megan Thee Stallion for Best New Artist


Best New Artist
Nominees: Ingrid Andress, Phoebe Bridgers, Chika, Noah Cyrus, D Smoke, Doja Cat, Kaytranada, Megan Thee Stallion


This probably boils down to a two-woman race between Phoebe Bridgers and Megan Thee Stallion (real name Megan Pete), both 26. The gifted Bridgers is a safe bet, thanks to her old-school-friendly approach to singing and songwriting, which should endear her to many voters.

But the spotlight-commanding Megan Thee Stallion had a banner year as a solo artist and as a collaborator, most notably with Cardi B (their joint single, “WAP,” had more than 737 million on-demand streams in 2020). Put simply, this hot-to-trot vocal Stallion is an undeniable force of nature and the Grammy should be hers.



https://www.sandiegouniontribune.co...-as-we-preview-musics-biggest-night?_amp=true

 

[Ziggiy]

Pitchfork says that Lil Baby’s “The Bigger Picture” will win Best Rap Song but that Roddy Rich’s “The Box” SHOULD win


Best Rap Song

• Lil Baby - “The Bigger Picture”
• Roddy Ricch - “The Box”
• Drake - “Laugh Now, Cry Later” [ft. Lil Durk]
• DaBaby - “Rockstar” [ft. Roddy Ricch]
• Megan Thee Stallion - “Savage Remix” [ft. Beyoncé]

Will Win: “The Bigger Picture”
Should Win: “The Box”

The Grammys are a desperate organization. They so badly want to be recognized as relevant, and also would love it if there weren’t tons of articles and social media posts highlighting their lack of diversity every year. In their minds, giving a trophy to Lil Baby’s “The Bigger Picture” would knock out two birds with one stone: Crowning one of the hottest rappers of 2020 while giving an award to a protest song. But that wouldn’t work out as smoothly as they think. Lil Baby has a few songs from the last year that are worthy of a Best Rap Song title, but “The Bigger Picture” isn’t one of them. The selection of the nominees looks more like it’s based on numbers than anything else. Given that, the only other reasonable options are Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage Remix,” and Roddy Ricch’s breakout single “The Box.” The Roddy song is catchy, memorable, and a legitimate star-making moment. That should be good enough for a win—unless the Grammys are more invested in headlines, which is usually the case. –Alphonse Pierre






They also have Megan Thee Stallion pegged for Best New Artist


Grammys 2021 Predictions: Who Will Win and Who Should Win

 

[waynep]

Seattle Times predicts Nas for Best Rap Album but says that Freddie SHOULD win it.


Best Rap Album
D Smoke, “Black Habits”; Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist, “Alfredo”; Jay Electronica, “A Written Testimony”; Nas, “King’s Disease”; Royce 5’9”, “The Allegory”

The Grammys have long been accused of being out of touch with hip-hop, and while the other rap categories mostly check out, the album field warrants an eyebrow raise. Absent are the young stars whose hands grip the wheel of America’s most-consumed genre, in favor of all-male artists over 35 whose technicality appeals to purists. Despite the snubs, there’s plenty to like, too. Boom bap heavyweight Nas feels like the favorite, having proved he’s not just a legacy act with his rejuvenating “King’s Disease.” But don’t discount the reclusive Jay Electronica, whose decade-in-the-making debut — essentially a collaborative album with Jay-Z — did not disappoint. If there’s any justice, however, grizzled Indiana vet Freddie Gibbs gets his first golden gramophone after steadily climbing from rap-nerd favorite to one of the genre’s most critically acclaimed artists over the past decade.

Should win: Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist, “Alfredo”

Will win: Nas, “King’s Disease”




They also predict Megan Thee Stallion for Best New Artist and Roddy Rich’s “The Box” for Best Melodic Rap Performance

Who will win — and who should win — at the 2021 Grammy Awards? Our music critic makes predictions[/QUO
As a Nas Stan I'm nervous lol
Every publication thinks Gibbs should win.

 

[Ziggiy]

Gold Derby’s experts opinions have Nas’s odds at 31/10 odds which represent 74% chance to Win Best Rap Album

2021 Grammy predictions: Our official odds in 32 categories from Album of the Year to Best Song from Visual Media

 

[Ziggiy]

Entertainment Weekly says that Jay Electronica SHOULD win Best Rap Album but that Nas WILL win.

Best Rap Album

Black Habits — D Smoke
Alfredo — Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
A Written Testimony — Jay Electronica
King's Disease — Nas
The Allegory — Royce Da 5'9"


WHO SHOULD WIN: Jay Electronica's return was one of the most surprising moments of the decade. Even more shocking: the album he returned with — the long-delayed, highly anticipated A Written Testimony — was good.

WHO WILL WIN: Nas — because most Academy voters probably haven't heard of any of the other nominees.




They also say that Megan Thee Stallion will win Best Rap Song for Savage but that Lil Baby’s “The Bigger Picture” SHOULD win


From Taylor Swift to Megan Thee Stallion: Our predictions for the 2021 Grammy Awards

 

[LevelUp]

I'll be tuning in.