The Grammys have moved Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” from the rap category to the pop one.

It spent eight weeks at number one on Billboard’s rap songs list but was ultimately rejected as being too commercial. Nicki Minaj has been nominated for ten Grammys, although just one of them was for a pop category performance.

While Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” remains at the top of Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart for a record-tying eighth week, the song will be included in the pop category at the next Grammy Awards.

The song was submitted by Nicki Minaj to the rap categories at the Grammys, where it debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list in August, but the choice was rescinded by the rap committee, a source close to the matter told Rolling Stone. Nicki Minaj’s lively and pop-sounding song copying Rick James’ 1981 smash “Super Freak” was deemed by the panel to be more appropriately nominated for best pop solo performance rather than rap honors.

Nicki Minaj posted a video on Instagram and a slew of tweets Thursday criticizing the decision. Minaj complained on Instagram that the academy “keeps changing the goalposts” when it comes to her. Why is it that the goalpost is always moved if Nicki is involved?

Nicki Minaj Kicked Out of the Grammy Rap Category

Super Freaky Girl

Nicki Minaj added that Latto’s “Big Energy,” which also leans toward pop and borrows Tom Tom Club’s 1981 song “Genius of Love,” which was famously covered by Mariah Carey for her No. 1 smash “Fantasy,” should compete in pop if “Super Freaky Girl” does.

As long as everyone is treated fairly, “I have no trouble getting transferred out the RAP category,” she said on Twitter. “Big Energy has 2B moved out RAP if SFG (Super Freaky Girl) has 2B moved out RAP. A hater or troll of Nicki Minaj would be the only one to suggest otherwise.

After two weeks at the top, Latto’s “Big Energy” reached the third spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 list (which includes songs of all genres). This year at the Grammys, “Big Energy” will be up for rap awards, not pop ones.

The Recording Academy’s feedback email went unanswered.

It seems we’ve reached rock bottom, therefore Stephen Colbert has decided to host a celebrity pickleball show.

The nominees for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards will be revealed on November 15, and the broadcast will stream live on CBS on February 5, 2023. First-round nominations voting starts this Thursday and runs through next Tuesday, October 23.

 

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Through the years, Minaj has recorded a string of pop and hip-hop singles that showcase her rapping or singing (and occasionally both) abilities. Minaj’s first solo single, 2010’s “Your Love,” sampled Annie Lennox’s 1995 cover version of “No More I Love You’s,” putting it on the pop-adjacent border; she has since released other pop-heavy songs like “Super Bass” and “Starships,” which Hot 97 radio host Peter Rosenberg famously dubbed “not real hip-hop,” prompting Minaj to withdraw from the station’s annual Summer Jam concert.

Nicki Minaj has been nominated for 10 Grammys, however, the only time she has competed in the pop category is for “Bang Bang” with Ariana Grande and Jessie J. Her rap work has garnered the most of her Grammy nominations, with Pink Friday and The Pinkprint up for best rap album, “Anaconda” up for best rap song, and “Moment 4 Life” and “Truffle Butter” up for best rap performance.

There are a lot of songs like Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” and “Super Freaky Girl”: In spite of the fact that the singer-breakthrough rapper’s single spent 13 weeks at the top of Billboard’s rap chart and seven weeks at the top of the all-genre Hot 100 list, it was ineligible for any rap Grammys. In 2020, however, it was nominated for and won the award for, best pop solo performance.

Grammy Rap Category

Doja Cat’s “Say So,” which has her singing and rapping, and Post Malone’s “Better Now,” which blends hip-hop, alternative, and pop tunes, are two more songs that incorporate rap elements that have competed for best pop solo performance.

Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX’s “Fancy,” Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s “See You Again,” and Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Old Town Road,” which won the award in 2020, are just a few examples of rap/pop collaborations that also competed for best pop duo/group performance at the Grammys.

After the success of “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us” during the 2014 rap Grammys, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis were initially disinvited from the ceremony. However, when the trio went on to win all five rap Grammys, including Album of the Year, over Kendrick Lamar and others, the decision was reversed and highly condemned. That’s why Macklemore and Ryan Lewis didn’t enter their second album for the 2017 Grammy Awards.