The Grammy Awards have come under fire from US rapper Nicki Minaj for placing her hit song Super Freaky Girl in a category where it has “less of a chance to win.”
To pave the way for “giving newer artists things that they truly don’t deserve” in the rap industry, she claimed the song had been shifted to the pop category.
This led to a Twitter argument between young rapper Latto and Minaj. Both the pop and rap charts in the US were topped by Super Freaky Girl. Organizers of the Grammys have not responded.
On Instagram, Minaj alleged that there was “an agenda” against her and “a determined effort” to favor younger musicians over those who had been deserving for a long time in the music business.
She claimed that by benefiting financially from musicians that the gatekeepers “want to shine” and who “these corporate giants can make money off,” she was losing out to them.
The people who exercise a lot of power in the background need to advance a person from whom they may profit. Therefore, they must constantly adjust the goalposts for me.
“Why is the goalpost only ever moved when it’s Nicki?” Minaj continued. I’ll explain why now. They don’t want their existing industry contacts to have to compete with me.
Yet why? If you or a song are both excellent, you ought to be able to be included in the same category.
“So, when they start voting on these pop categories, what do you think will happen? And they have to choose between Nicki Minaj and Harry Styles or Nicki Minaj and Adele, regardless of whether they are white, from another race, older, or anything else.
“That was specifically planned so Nicki wouldn’t be in the area where you don’t want any competition. Put her there so there would be more opponents and fewer opportunities for her to win.
She made mention of the song Big Energy by 23-year-old Latto, which she claimed had been classified as rap music. Big Energy reached the third spot on the US pop chart and the top spot on the rap chart.
If Super Freaky Girl is pop, Big Energy must also be, claimed Minaj. “If you transfer Super Freaky Girl from rap to pop, move Big Energy in the same way. In both songs, the producers stayed the same. So let’s maintain equity.
A Twitter conversation between Minaj and Latto rapidly turned personal during the argument.
Category Ambiguity
In the past, Minaj has been nominated for 10 Grammys, seven of which were in the rap categories. She emphasized that on the X-rated song Super Freaky Girl, which strongly borrows the 1981 song Super Freak by funk musician Rick James, she solely raps and does not sing.
To further complicate matters, James’ original song was a Grammy Award nominee for best male rock vocal performance.
Another 1981 anthem that Latto uses in his filthy song Big Energy is Tom Tom Club’s Genius of Love.
The selection of Grammy categories has frequently been a point of contention, with Justin Bieber objecting to being classified as pop rather than R&B in 2020 and Kacey Musgraves taking issue with a song being moved from country to pop last year. Drake and The Weeknd have stopped making music recently and criticized the Grammys.
Bruno Mars and Anderson. Paak’s soul group Silk Sonic, which won record and song of the year at the 2018 Grammy Awards, has withdrawn from the competition for 2019.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, Mars said: “We thank the Grammys for allowing us to perform on their platform – not once, but twice – and for honoring us at last year’s ceremony. They did not provide a reason. It would be unreasonable for us to want more.
The Recording Academy, which oversees the awards, responded with the following statement: “We appreciate their decision not to submit this year but look forward to celebrating an amazing year in music together.” Harvey Mason Jr.
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