Will hip hop be able to break yet another barrier?
This year, rap songs makeup five/eight of the nominees in the record of the year category, and take up three/eight slots for song of the year. A hip-hop song has never won in either of the categories.
For record of the year:
Cardi B, Bad Bunny, and J Balvin’s “I Like It” goes up against Childish Gambino’s “This Is America,” Drake’s “God’s Plan,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “All The Stars,” and Post Malone’s “Rockstar,” which also features 21 Savage.
Andrew Barber from media company Fake Shore Drive says that part of hip-hop’s challenge at the Grammys is due to the lack amount of RIAA members that work in the genre. “The biggest challenge with hip-hop is that there’s not enough people voting from that community,” he says. “I think we would’ve won in these categories a long time ago if we had more voting members.”
