Over the weekend, Killer Mike scored big at the 66th Annual Grammys. The performer took home awards for Best Rap Album for Michael, as well as Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for “Scientists & Engineers.” Soon after he accepted his awards, however, the evening took an unfortunate turn. He was taken away from the ceremony in handcuffs for a misdemeanor battery charge. Allegedly, Killer Mike had knocked down a security officer who wouldn’t get out of his way nearby.
While the arrest took many fans by surprise, T.I. recently told Atlanta’s Hot 107.9 that he can relate. “It was an atrocity,” he said of the arrest. “To be honest with you, Killer Mike going and sweeping the Grammys, winning three Grammys and then getting arrested and going to jail at the same event in the same venue, is the story of the Black man in America.”
T.I. Calls Killer Mike Incident “The Story Of The Black Man In America”
“You can’t really celebrate success,” he continued. “You can’t really reap the benefits, enjoy the fruits of your labor, because there’s always somebody who tryna bring you back to the reality of a Black man in America, ya dig? … [Rap] Album of the Year, that’s hard. Congratulations, man. You know, even though, what does a Grammy mean, for real? What is it worth if you can’t even enjoy the night and celebrate without getting arrested?”
T.I. went on, “What is the true value? I’m asking the question, like for real. Why should we really aim for that when we go to jail in the same building we get the Grammy. I mean, how valuable is it?” T.I. later joked that Killer Mike is “infringing on [his] intellectual property,” as he himself was arrested in 2007 hours before his scheduled BET Hip Hop Awards performance. What do you think of Killer Mike getting taken away from the Grammys in handcuffs after winning various awards? What about T.I.’s take on the incident? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.
Kirk Franklin has finally responded after being name-checked by Katt Williams in his Club Shay Shay interview last month. “You just shake your head. It’s like, ‘Lord, have mercy!’ because I don’t know where it’s going. But shout out to Katt Williams. I just think that there are so many voices right now that are having the opportunity to speak their journey, their experiences. And I just think that it’s important for everyone to have a platform to tell the truth and their story. I don’t think anybody should be silenced, anybody should be censored. I think that every human being has the right to tell their voice and their story,” Franklin told HipHopDX at the Grammys.
Franklin got off lighter than most of the people mentioned by Williams during the now-viral interview. The more prevalent course of action was that if Williams was mentioning you, you were about to get skewered by the veteran actor and comedian. This has led to a wave of backlash ever since the interview came out. Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish both offered differing responses to Williams. Meanwhile, Ludacris felt strongly enough to hit Williams with a freestyle diss.
Katt Williams Club Shay Shay Interview Spoofed On Saturday Night Live
Meanwhile, SNL dedicated a skit during their January 21 show to spoofing Williams’ much talked-about interview. Ego Nwodim played Williams while Devin Walker played Shannon Sharpe. The skit was billed as the “eight-hour extended version” of the interview. “Three things are true about me. I am 5’3, I have never told a lie, and I am 6’3,” Nwodim’s Williams says. Furthermore, the skit featured several jokes about Williams’ comments about Kevin Hart. “Look, Hollywood made Kevin Hart. Everyone knows Kevin Hart was made in the same factory where they make Teddy Grahams. Why the hell he smell like cinnamon?” ranted Williams. Other targets of Nwodim’s Williams included Barak Obama and included Williams claiming he invented fruit.
Meanwhile, Renee Rapp brought out Megan Thee Stallion as part of her Saturday Night Live musical spot. The pair performed their collab “Not My Fault”, which they recorded for the newly released Mean Girls remake. The film is not directly a remake of the 2004 film, but a blend of the original film and the wildly popular Broadway musical. Furthermore, Rapp also performed her track “Snow Angel”, from her album of the same name released last year.
The Recording Academy is responsible for awarding the yearly Grammy Awards. While a Grammy Award remains a prestigious achievement for many artists, the awards ceremony is not without its critics. Most recently, Jay-Z expressed his frustration at the Grammy’s failure to properly recognize Hip Hop, as well as his wife Beyoncé. However, his displeasures with the Academy extend far into the past.
This institution is currently the highest authority when it comes to recognizing outstanding achievements in the music industry, worldwide. At the same time, they seem to have a long history of overlooking artists, especially within the Hip Hop genre. From Eminem to Kanye West, and Nicki Minaj and Drake; here’s a list of rappers who have had to condemn the Academy for treating artists unfairly. While frustrations with the Grammys stretch back decades, it seems the institution is still failing to properly recognize the genre.
In 1989, Public Enemy, sat out the Grammys along with a few other Hip Hop bigwigs. It was a brave decision to make especially since 1989 marked the first year that hip-hop had its own category. The pack of celebrity Grammy critics was led by Def Jams’ Russell Simmons, because the artists had been informed that their category would not be televised, blaming it on time restrictions. Public Enemy boycotted again in 1991 under similar circumstances.
Thirty years later, one of Public Enemy’s founding members, Chuck D, spoke out against the Recording Academy. This happened when the former head of the Recording Academy, Deborah Dugan, was put on leave just before the 2020 awards. Notably, Public Enemy was set to receive a Lifetime Achievement award that year, but Chuck D supported Dugan and chose to lambast the Academy for its actions instead. Public Enemy would eventually be nominated six times for a Grammy but win none.
Eminem
Eminem has had quite a successful journey with the Grammys with fifteen trophies to his name. However, more than a dozen gold-plated statues were not enough to stop him from joining the list of Grammy critics. The reason for Eminem’s boycott turned out to be quite simple: he had been snubbed way too many times for the “Album Of The Year” category. In 2001, Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP lost the award to Steely Dan’s Two Against Nature. Two years after that, the same thing happened with The Eminem Show album, which lost to Norah Jones’ Come Away with Me.
Although he performed four times at the award ceremony after 2001, and up until 2011, Eminem seems to be done with the Grammys for good. However, it was a rather quiet boycott, until 2018, when he was interviewed by Sway Calloway. When Calloway asked if he would ever honor an invite from the Recording Academy again, he replied: “My answer is no for a hundred million years,”
Lil Wayne is another major name to join the list of Grammy critics. Just one day after the 63rd annual Grammy Awards in 2021, he tweeted “F-k the Grammys” on a bright and early Monday morning. He had not been invited, and Weezy took the Grammy snub personally. At the peak of his career, he had won four awards in one night at the 2009 Grammy Awards. Later in 2017, he also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance for “No Problem.” It’s quite the mystery that one of the most important names in Hip Hop was left out of the invite list.
Lil Wayne let out his thoughts in a few extra tweets. “As an artist, when I see da Grammys coming up & I’m not involved nor invited; I wonder. Is it me, my musik, or just another technicality?” he wrote. “I look around w respect & wonder competitively am I not worthy?! Then I look around & see 5 Grammys looking bak at me & I go to the studio.”
With a disappointing five wins out of 55 nominations, it’s no wonder Drake is also at the forefront of the Grammy critics. In 2022, Drake’s management requested the Academy to remove him as a nominee for two award categories: Best Rap Album and Best Rap Performance. Before then he had been quite vocal about many dissatisfaction he had with the award; especially since his four Grammys were strictly in the rap category and he deserved more.
Drake was also vocal in his support for The Weeknd, who famously boycotted the award in 2021. However, his most popular anti-Grammy act took place in 2019 when he was awarded best rap song for “God’s Plan.” Although he declined an invitation to perform, Drake attended the ceremony. He received his award, and in his acceptance speech, reminded everyone that “…we’re playing in an Opinion-based sport, not a factual-based sport. So it’s not the NBA…”
Drake continued until the producers cut the speech off and continued to commercial for home viewers. The feed was also cut off in the media room at the Los Angeles Staples center. On the day of the 2024 Grammys, Drake reposted a clip from his speech that night. Why? Just to remind everyone that he still didn’t take the Grammys seriously.
Kanye West
Kanye West, one of the most awarded artists of all time with 21 Grammy wins, shocked many when he shared a Twitter video in September 2020. It was a video of the rapper urinating on one of his Grammy statues. This act came after he had posted a string of tweets. Ye criticized the music industry, and called it a “modern-day slave ship.” In response to the video, the Recording Academy decided to ban him from performing at their awards ceremony.
The infamous pissing video would not be his first time attacking the Grammys however. In 2017, he threatened to boycott the award in support of Frank Ocean whose albums had received no nominations. This was even though West himself had been nominated for eight awards that same year. He launched a more verbal attack in 2015 in support of Beyoncé.
Jay-Z has long been one of the most popular Grammy critics around. In fact, he has quite a history of airing out his frustration with the Grammy Awards’ treatment of rap music. The first time was in 1999, when he boycotted the awards because rapper DMX didn’t get nominated. Soon after, in 2002, he commented that “rappers deserve more attention from the Grammy committee and from the whole world.”
Things were quiet again for a few years, until 2018. Hov was nominated for eight Grammys (including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year), and didn’t win any. It was the first time he would be on the receiving end of Grammy losses. Subsequently, in his song “APESHIT” as one half of The Carters, he made sure to reference the incident. “Tell the Grammys forget that 0-for-8 sh*t,” he rapped.
However, his most recent attack took place on the stage at the 2024 Grammys. While receiving the Dr. Dre Global Impact Grammy Award, Jay-Z spoke about how unfair it was that his wife Beyoncé had never won Album of the Year. Widely considered one of the most recurrent Grammy snubs, both critics and fans alike have expressed their displeasure at Beyonce’s repeated losses to white artists, despite having more impactful projects.
Nicki Minaj
Never forget the Grammys didn’t give me my best new artist award when I had 7 songs simultaneously charting on billboard & bigger first week than any female rapper in the last decade- went on to inspire a generation. They gave it to the white man Bon Iver. #PinkFriday
In 2012, when Nicki Minaj earned multiple nominations, she went home empty handed. A few years later, she criticized the Recording Academy for not acknowledging her influence in a viral tweet. “Never forget the Grammys didn’t give me my best new artist award when I had 7 songs simultaneously charting on billboard & bigger first week than any female rapper in the last decade- went on to inspire a generation. They gave it to the white man Bon Iver.” Altogether, Nicki Minaj has been nominated for a Grammy ten times but never won any.
Her disappointment continued in 2024 when she was wrongly declared as a Grammy winner. In the Best Rap Song category, Killer Mike won for “Scientists & Engineers.” However, the official Grammys account on X (formerly known as Twitter), incorrectly attributed the award to “Barbie World” by Ice Spice and Nicki Minaj. Although the post was swiftly removed, the damage was already done.
In 2023 we said goodbye to several music icons, including 96-year-old Harry Belafonte. The late recording artist was best known for “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song),” though he also contributed significantly to activist movements around the globe. His work was sampled on several occasions in popular hip-hop releases, and he continues to be recognized as one of the few Black creatives to achieve EGOT status. When it came time for the annual Grammy Awards this month, many expected to see the show pay tribute to Belafonte for all his contributions. Unfortunately for them, Belafonte only briefly came up during the “In Memoriam” segment but failed to give any further acknowledgment as we saw other artists receive.
“Love @itstonybennett Love @tinaturner Love @sinadeocconor. Why the @recordingacademy [chose] not to do a special tribute to you I will #never understand!” the legend’s daughter, Gina Belafonte wrote on Facebook earlier this week. “Here is my Grammy tribute to you dad! So many winners you’ve mentored! So many winners you shared your stage with. You are the winner @theharrybelafonte and we are better because of your contribution!” she continued, giving her late father his well-deserved flowers.
“Belafonte’s career breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist,” Gina reminded readers online. As AllHipHop notes, another of Harry’s daughters, Shari Belafonte, aired her grievances with the Grammys too. “While no doubt, Tony Bennett and Tina Turner were special indeed, Harry contributed far more to society and the music industry than those two put together, in my humble opinion. The Grammys missed a major moment.”
Harry Belafonte isn’t the only celebrity who seemingly got snubbed by the Grammy Awards. SZA’s fanbase was outraged after the TDE signee missed out on taking home Album of the Year, but for her part, she’s taking the loss with grace. “Only way from up is higher,” she declared following the ceremony. Read more about that at the link below, and check back later for more hip-hop/pop culture news updates.
Kai Cenat had some choice words after Joe Budden used him as an example of “young streaming n-ggas” while discussing the Grammys. “What we have here is a case of old n-gga syndrome. Stop talking about streaming n-ggas like we some lil’ n-ggas, bro. I could buy you, my n-gga. Do you understand that? I could pull up like 20 clips of you doubting every 2016 [XXL] Freshman, and look at them boys right now. You got one hit, Joe! ‘Pump it up!’ No offense to your career and shit like that, but come on, bro!” Cenat screamed on his stream.
Adin Ross, a close friend and ally of Cenat, also called out Budden on his own stream. “Joe Budden, every time I see you or a clip of you, it’s just on some hating shit. I’ma be honest, bro, I don’t know what you do. I can’t even name one Joe Budden song, respectfully. You’re one of these old asses who hates. Why can’t you be more like Rick Ross or Snoop Dogg, the OGs that are cool as fuck and show flowers to the young motherf-ckers? You have no room to talk, no room to speak. Me and Kai are 10 times richer than you will ever be, old man. We are more humble than you and we are nicer than you,” Ross said.
As mentioned, the root of the beef between Cenat and Budden stems from comments Budden made while discussing the Grammys. Budden took aim at Cenat after playing a clip of Cenat complaining that UTOPIA did not win Best Rap Album of the Year while also admitting that he did not know who Killer Mike was. Killer Mike grabbed the award over Travis Scott and a collab album from Drake & 21 Savage.
After playing the clip of Cenat, Budden went in on the modern wave of young professional livestreamers. “Y’all little streaming n-ggas don’t always run sh-t! Shut the f-ck up! We don’t care about none of that lil’ streamy moshpit, marked card, whatever you n-ggas is doing over there. U-f-cking-topia? U-nopia, n-gga. I’m just so happy that the little f-ckety f-cks finally have a look in the mirror moment and say, ‘Oh, it’s not about us!’ No, adults are out, n-gga! […] N-ggas got fly shit on, real execs, business people. Shut up for a change. I’m so sick of these n-ggas. We gotta rush behind Killer Mike. Killer Mike won, we gotta let these n-ggas know what the f-ck we really think,” Budden ranted.
More people were lined up to meet Beyonce at the 2024 Grammy Awards than there were in line to actually win an award. It seemed like every celebrity at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday (February 4) wanted to get a picture with her and hear her voice if only for a fleeting moment. One of these stars was 2023’s breakout hitmaker Ice Spice, who greeted the Houston icon in a clip that surfaced online. Their interaction was quick and respectful, with Queen Bey also greeting the Bronx native’s producer RIOTUSA. However, many fans noticed that she was much more excited when Coco Jones came into her sightline, extending a hug to her fellow R&B artist as Spice seemed to bask in the moment with Blue Ivy and Jay-Z beside her.
But if you see a longer version of the first clip below, you’ll see that this wasn’t really the case. Moreover, Coco Jones basically got in line after hugging Beyonce, and she went back to her conversation with Ice Spice. They spoke for a while longer, posed for a picture, and exchanged a hug, as well. As such, folks are likely exaggerating when they say that the RENAISSANCE artist cast Spice aside dismissively. Regardless, it was a big night for both rising titans, with a couple of nominations for both Beyhive members and a win for Coco in the Best R&B Performance category.
Unfortunately, Ice Spice didn’t win for her nominations, including Best Rap Song with the Nicki Minaj collab “Barbie World.” Her team-up with Taylor Swift on “Karma” remix also missed out on the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category. At least the 24-year-old shares something with Coco Jones beyond great artistry and Beyonce fandom: respect and love for Victoria Monét. She beat out both of them in the Best New Artist field (plus other awards), and all three of them were worthy of the praise.
Meanwhile, the “PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA” titan had a pretty notable night, too. Not only was she the center of attention amid a crowd filled with centers of attention, but her husband Jay-Z stood up for her against the Grammys’ failure to give her Album Of The Year despite having more awards than anyone in their history. What did you think about his speech? Let us know in the comments below and come back to HNHH for more on Beyonce, Ice Spice, and Coco Jones.
Joe Budden called out Travis Scott and Playboi Carti during the latest episode of his podcast in response to their Grammy performance. He labeled their appearance on stage, “f*ckin stupid” and called them “bozos.” While he says he likes the song,” Fein,” he didn’t think it made sense for the event.
“What the f**k is Travis and his man doing up here?” Budden began. “Ay, you two bozos! Get the f**k off the stage when n***as got beautiful women and tuxedos on, honestly. You up there smashing s**t. You got the nerve.” From there, Budden’s co-host compared the set to Scott’s Super Bowl performance.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 04: (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Travis Scott performs during the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Timothy Norris/FilmMagic)
Budden continued: “All that s**t look different when it ain’t a thousand little white kids jumping up and down. When there are grown people here, all that ‘fein, fein, fein,’ that’s what you wanted to win over Killer Mike? You’re f**kin’ stupid!” Of Playboi Carti specifically, he added: “You bring your man out, Playboi Carti. The crowd just stays silent. Playboi Carti looked confused like, ‘y’all don’t know who I am?” No, n***a! You got a f**king mask on. Who the f**k are you under there? You are not at SXSW anymore! We can’t recognize you Bozo’s by the stocking mask you wearing. I hate these n***as, man, all of ’em! I love that song, I love that song, but not when tuxedos are out. Take that s**t to the dirty Coachella grass n***a. N***a’s showered and lathered themselves tonight.” Check out the full remarks below.
Joe Budden Calls Out Travis Scott & Playboi Carti
Joe Budden trashes Travis Scott & Playboi Carti’s Grammy FE!N performance
By bringing up Killer Mike, Budden was referencing the backlash Scott’s fanbase had on social media in response to the rapper winning Album of the Year. Be on the lookout for further updates on Joe Budden on HotNewHipHop.
Kelly Rowland heaped praise on JAY-Z at the premiere of Bob Marley: One Love in Los Angeles on Tuesday, following the rapper’s speech at the Grammy Awards. On stage, JAY used his speech accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award to praise his wife, Beyonce, and question why she hasn’t won Album of the Year.
“Shawn Carter is one of the greatest men I know and his words ring so loud to me,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “I couldn’t be more proud of him. I’m just really happy for a lot of things that he said. I think that he made a lot of artists feel very seen and very heard in those minutes that he took on stage.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 04: (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Jay-Z speaks during the 66th GRAMMY. Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Timothy Norris/FilmMagic)
“I feel like she is an icon… and that’s for a reason – it’s because she starts trends,” Rowland said. “She is innovative, her thoughts are big and bright and she just jumps for them and does it. I think that her albums are a reflection of that, and it should be really celebrated in that way. I’m not saying that because it’s my sister, I’m saying it because it’s the truth. I’ve seen the blood, sweat and tears that she puts into these projects, and her thoughts and her heart and her passion and her soul.” Check out her full comments on JAY-Z below.
With his speech, JAY-Z brought up the fact that Beyonce is the most decorated artist in Grammy history. She’s won a total of 32 awards, despite missing the highly-coveted Album of the Year honor. Be on the lookout for further updates on Kelly Rowland on HotNewHipHop.
Roland Martin called out JAY-Z for his speech at the 2024 Grammy Awards, during which he railed against the Recording Academy while accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. Speaking on his Unfiltered show, Martin argued that the legendary rapper should’ve refused to accept the honor until changes were made at the ceremony to assist hip-hop artists. Martin noted that the rap categories were not broadcast live on TV.
“JAY-Z, if you want the Grammys to change, you should’ve said, ‘I will not accept this award nor will I attend until y’all put one of the rap categories on the televised broadcast,” Martin said. “JAY-Z, Dr. Dre, y’all make it clear, whoever they want to give the award to next year, you make it clear we ain’t showing up unless y’all make the rap album of the year part of the broadcast. I guarantee you it’s gonna cause some folks to say, ‘We better do it or we’re gonna lose the star power… You pull the star power, ratings go down. When ratings go down, they lose money. We know in America, when they lose money, stuff changes.”
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 04: Jay-Z accepts the Dr. Dre Global Impact. Award onstage with Blue Ivy Carter during the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com. Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
On stage, JAY-Z primarily took issue with the Recording Academy never recognizing Beyonce for Album of the Year, despite giving her the most awards in history. “I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the Year,” he said. “So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys; never won Album of the Year. That doesn’t work. Obviously, it’s subjective because it’s music. It’s opinion-based. Some of you are going to go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may get robbed– some of you don’t belong in the category.” Check out Martin’s response to the comments below.
Roland Martin Slams JAY-Z
JAY-Z also made headlines at the event for drinking out of his award. Be on the lookout for further updates on JAY-Z on HotNewHipHop.
It’s been quite a hectic past few days for Killer Mike. The ATL legend, Outkast collaborator, and Run The Jewels member had a night to remember at the Grammys for reasons both good and bad. During the pre-show broadcast leading up to the Grammy ceremony, he took home three awards essentially sweeping the hip-hop categories. He was Best Rap Album for his project Michael and two more awards for it’s standout track “Scientists & Engineers.”
Though Killer Mike got the chance to repeatedly celebrate on stage for the trio of awards but his celebration was cut short soon after. That allegedly started with some kind of physical confrontation backstage, though reports on what exactly happened are still unclear. Shortly after videos hit the internet of Mike being walked out of the ceremony in handcuffs by police. Thankfully he was released shortly after, which turned out to be pretty important. The very next day following his wins and arrest, he was with his son during a long-awaited kidney transplant. Despite all the chaos, Mike’s celebration of his big night has continued.
Though Mike didn’t technically win every award related to hip-hop as Lil Durk also took home his very first Grammys for Melodic Rap Performance, he’s still leaning into the sweep mentality. “The MICHAEL Broom used exclusively for sweeping the GRAMMYS available now” he said in a tweet made overnight. It links to his website where, just as you’d expect, there’s a broom for sale.
“Limited Edition Industrial Size Broom. Covers 3x the area. When it’s time for a clean sweep we make the best broom. Autographed by Killer Mike” the product description for the broom reads. It’s currently sold out with no indication as to whether or not more stock will be put up for sale anytime soon. What do you think of Killer Mike selling an autographed broom for $100 to celebrate his big night winning three Grammys? Let us know in the comment section below.
, used exclusively for sweeping the GRAMMYS available now on 
