The 2024 Grammys were held at the beginning of February, and the awards show brought along some unforeseen wins. The most debated was Killer Mike, who swept the rap category, taking home the awards for rap performance, rap song and rap album.
Best rap performance
Nominated beside him for rap performance were Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar for “The Hillbillies,” Black Thought for “Love Letter,” Drake and 21 Savage for “Rich Flex” and Coi Leray for “Players.” Killer Mike and Andre 3000 won this award for their song “Scientists and Engineers” off Killer Mike’s album “Michael.”
This award came as a shock since “Rich Flex” became a smash hit worldwide. It launched at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 after its release on Nov. 3, 2022, and it amassed over 500 million streams on Spotify alone by May 2023. This is no easy feat. The numbers clearly represent the huge footprint that the song left on the music industry.
“Rich Flex” was embraced by an entire generation. It would be odd if a Gen Z peer didn’t recognize the lyrics rather than recall the viral line “21, can you do something for me,” since it left that big of a cultural impact on younger generations.
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When Killer Mike’s song was awarded the Grammy, it left people scratching their heads online. The song, which was released in June, has only accumulated 16.3 million streams on Spotify as of this month.
Best rap song
The nominations in this category included “Attention” by Doja Cat, “Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice featuring Aqua, “Just Wanna Rock” by Lil Uzi Vert, “Rich Flex” by Drake and 21 Savage, and “Scientists and Engineers” once again.
“Rich Flex” was unquestionably qualified to take home this award. If not “Rich Flex,” then “Just Wanna Rock” was a close second. Released on Oct. 17, 2022, Uzi’s song was catapulted to the Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/ Hip-Hop Songs Chart by Dec. 2, 2022. “Just Wanna Rock” proceeded to go double platinum in March 2023 and has gathered over 600 million streams on Spotify as of this month.
“Just Wanna Rock” led to the birth of a dance that continues to be a viral phenomenon across the internet. Killer Mike’s release didn’t come close to that amount of success.
Best rap album
The most anticipated award of the night: best rap album. Killer Mike’s album “Michael” was nominated amongst some of the most influential albums of the year, including “Utopia” by Travis Scott, “King’s Disease III” by Nas, “Her Loss” by Drake and 21 Savage and “Heroes & Villains” by Metro Boomin.
The Grammy should’ve gone to Metro Boomin. This was undeniably his best album yet, and it was a testament to his innovative beats. Plus, the numbers don’t lie.
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The album was released on Dec. 2, 2022, and by May 1, only six months later, the album had collected over 2 billion streams on Spotify. Metro Boomin had incredible success with his work, and “Heroes and Villains” became the 15th highest streamed rap album of the decade.
The producer headlined many music festivals in 2023, drawing in an unprecedented crowd because of the popularity his album had received. From these concerts, people took to social media and posted clips of the performance, which gathered huge amounts of views and likes, showing the undeniable cultural embrace Metro Boomin’s music experienced in 2023.
Yet the Grammy went to Killer Mike.
All nominees deserves their place on the ballot. However, some just outshined others, whether it be in streams, chart-toppings or cultural impact. Many fans of Killer Mike’s fellow nominees took to the internet to share their disappointment with the outcome of the 2024 Grammys, claiming their preferred artists were robbed or overlooked.
Unfortunately, what’s done is done. The best fans can do is hope for the best next year. Maybe the most deserving nominee will finally take the cake.
