The Hip Hop mogul, Nicki Minaj recently called out the Grammys yet again for not respecting her artistry as an African American female rapper.

Nicki Minaj’s latest No. 1 rap record “Super Freaky Girl” has blown up since its release in August. The record alone has “tallied 21.1 million streams, 4.6 million radio airplay audience impressions, and 89,000 downloads sold in its first week” according to Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart. However, in the eyes of The Recording Academy “Super Freaky Girl” is not a rap song.  

Does The Recording Academy have an unfair biased against Nicki Minaj?  

According to Nicki, they do! The rap artist made pretty interesting comparisons during an Instagram live to show the academy’s bias. Nicki compared “Super Freaky Girl” to other hit records such as, “Big Energy” by Latto, “Say So” by Doja Cat, and “Hotline Bling” by Drake. All songs have been placed in the Grammy Rap Award category even though they are defined as pop songs.  

Nicki Minaj submitted “Super Freaky Girl” to The Recording Academy as a rap song, believing it to be placed in the rap award category at the Grammys. But the submission was quickly overturned by the rap committee for The Recording Academy, they believed the song should compete for Best Pop Solo Performance instead. Disappointed, Nicki responded via Instagram live stating “if you can’t tell by now then you aren’t opening your eyes” insinuating that the rap committee purposely places rap artists in categories where they will not succeed. 

Has the music industry seen this happen before?   

The Recording Academy has been accused numerous times of snubbing African American artists at their famous award show, The Grammy’s. The award show is meant to “cultivate the understanding, appreciation, and advancement of the contribution of recorded music to American culture” yet African American artists like Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, and Nicki Minaj have all lost in categories where they indisputably changed the culture of the music industry. The once respected award show now has major artists like Drake, Bruno Mars, and The Weeknd decline their offer to participate because the show refuses to recognize the achievements of African American artists accurately.  

 So does Nick Minaj deserve a Grammy?

Many of her fans would say absolutely! Nicki Minaj has paved the way for many African American women in the music industry today making her an icon for young women who aspire to be female rappers. Nicki’s achievements have earned her the top spot in the female rap game, appearing on Billboard’s Top 100 Chart more than one hundred times, winning BET’s Best Female Hip Hop Artist seven times consecutively, being honored with the Michael Jackson Vanguard Award, and so much more. 

Published by HOLR Magazine.