Which Rappers Turned Down Hip-Hop 50 Invitations?

A Grammy Salute To 50 Years Of Hip-Hop aired on Sunday, December 10 after the live show in November, and once it was out in the open, executive producer Questlove answered fans’ questions on Twitter. In addition to allegeding that the stress of producing the show cost him a couple of teeth, he also revealed which rap star’s declined invitation “hurt the most.”

The pick might be a surprise for fans whoo weren’t around for that artist’s dominant run in the ’90s, but that’s why we have the Hip-Hop 50 celebration in the first place: to teach or remind younger fans where the culture came from from and how it’s evolved. “Of all the ‘No’s,’” the Roots drummer wrote. “Hammer hurt the most. We really wanted him to have his flowers.”

Although Quest didn’t go into details about why any of the invited artists turned down the show (most likely did so due to scheduling conflicts), Quest also confirmed that 50 Cent, Ice Cube, Run-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, and Wu-Tang Clan were all asked. And while there are clearly fans who were disappointed, the producer called it a “blessing in disguise.”

“Got a gazillion ‘no’s’ but mid edit we were like this was a blessing in disguise,” he explained. “The reason this is dope is because ‘Normally’ we only celebrate ‘the winners’ & ignore ‘the loved.’ This changes all of that.” He’s not wrong; the full list of performers includes some oft-overlooked names in the rap discussion, from DJ Quik and Yo-Yo to Three 6 Mafia and everyone in between. For a full list of performers, see below.

Who Performed At The Grammys’ Hip-Hop 50 Tribute?

LADIES FIRST
With Spinderella as DJ:

Queen Latifah and Monie Love — “Ladies First”
MC Sha-Rock — “It’s The Joint”
Roxanne Shanté — “Roxanne’s Revenge”
J.J. Fad — “Supersonic”
MC Lyte — “Cha Cha Cha”
Remy Ma — “All The Way Up”
Latto — “Put It On Da Floor”
Ensemble Finale — “U.N.I.T.Y.”

HIP-HOP SOUTH

Jeezy — “Put On”
T.I. — “What You Know”
Bun B — “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)”
GloRilla — “Tomorrow 2”
Three 6 Mafia — “Stay Fly”
Jermaine Dupri — “Welcome to ATL”
Boosie Badazz — “Wipe Me Down”
Uncle Luke — “Scarred” / I Wanna Rock (Doo Doo Brown)”

PUBLIC ENEMY

“Don’t Believe the Hype”
“Fight the Power / Welcome To The Terrordome”
“Bring The Noise”

WEST COAST
With Battlecat as DJ, and Mustard as hypeman:

Warren G — “Regulate”
The Luniz — “5 On It”
The Lady of Rage — “Afro Puffs”
YG — “Who Do You Love”
Tyga — “Rack City”
Roddy Ricch — “Ballin’”
DJ Quik — “Tonite”
Yo-Yo — “You Can’t Play With My Yo-Yo”
Cypress Hill — “Hand On The Pump” / “How I Could Just Kill A Man”
Too $hort — “Blow The Whistle”
E-40 — “Tell Me When To Go”

INTERNATIONAL

Akon & Styles P — “Mama Africa” / “Locked Up (Remix)”
Blaqbonez — “Like Ice Spice”
Akon — “I Wanna Love You” / “Smack That”
Akon & Jeezy — “Soul Survivor”

LYRICISM

Big Daddy Kane — “Raw”
Black Thought — “Freestyle #087 (Freestyles On Flex)”
Rakim — “My Melody,” “I Ain’t No Joke”

CLUB BANGERS

2 Chainz — “Birthday Song”
Gunna — “Hot”
Coi LeRay — “Players”
Nelly — “E.I.”
Rick Ross — “Hustlin”/”B.M.F.”
Chance The Rapper feat. 2 Chainz — “No Problem”

DJ JAZZY JEFF & THE FRESH PRINCE

“Brand New Funk”
“Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”
“Welcome To Miami”
Mashup: “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” / “Switch”
“Summertime”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.