Nicki Minaj’s ‘Super Freaky Girl’ kicked out of Grammy rap category, will compete in pop (exclusive)

Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” is spending its eighth week atop Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart, but at the Grammys the song will compete in the pop category.

Minaj originally submitted the track — which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in August — to rap categories at the Grammys, but the decision was overruled by the Recording Academy’s rap committee, according to a source. This group determined that Minaj’s playful, pop song sampling Rick James’ 1981 classic “Super Freak” should compete for best pop solo performance instead of the rap awards.

Minaj criticized the decision on social media Thursday in an Instagram video post and a series of tweets. “They keep moving the goalposts when it comes to me,” Minaj said on IG of the academy. “Why is the goal post only ever moved when it comes to Nicki?”

Minaj also said that if “Super Freaky Girl” were to compete in pop, so would Latto’s “Big Energy,” which is pop-leaning and samples Tom Tom Club’s 1981 song “Genius of Love.” famous sampled by Mariah Carey for issue 1. press “Fancy”.

“I have no problem getting out of the RAP category as long as we are ALL treated FAIRLY,” she tweeted. “If SFG (Super Freaky Girl) released 2B RAP, so did Big Energy! ANY1 who says diff is just a Nicki hater or troll.

Latto’s “Big Energy” spent two weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s rap chart and peaked at No. 3 on the all-genre Hot 100 chart. At the Grammys, “Big Energy” will compete for rap, not pop, Grammys.

A representative for The Recording Academy did not respond to an email seeking comment.

The nominees for the 2023 Grammys will be announced on November 15, and the live stream will air on February 5, 2023 on CBS. Voting for the first round of nominees begins Thursday and ends October 23.

Minaj has released a number of pop and hip-hop hits over the years that feature her rapping or singing — sometimes both on the same track. Her first solo single, 2010’s “Your Love”, was pop-adjacent with her sample of Annie Lennox’s 1995 cover version of “No More I Love You”, and Minaj released other pop songs like ” Super Bass” and “Starships”. ‘, which Hot 97 radio host Peter Rosenberg dubbed “not real hip-hop” and caused Minaj to pull out of the station’s annual Summer Jam concert.

But of Minaj’s 10 Grammy nominations, she’s only competed once in pop – for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with “Bang Bang” alongside Ariana Grande and Jessie J. La majority of his Grammy nominations have been in rap, including Best Rap Album for pink friday and The pink footprintbest rap song for “Anaconda” and best rap performance for “Moment 4 Life” and “Truffle Butter”.

“Super Freaky Girl” is in similar company to Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts”: The singer-rapper’s breakthrough track topped Billboard’s rap chart for 13 weeks and eventually led the all-genre Hot 100 chart for seven weeks. but he did not compete in the rap categories at the Grammys. Instead, it was nominated for — and won — best pop solo performance at the 2020 show.

Other songs that feature rap elements that competed for best pop solo performance include Doja Cat’s “Say So,” which features her singing and rapping, and Post Malone’s “Better Now,” which mixes hip sounds. -hop, alternative and pop.

Collaborative songs that topped Billboard’s rap charts but competed for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the Grammys include “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX, “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth and “Old” by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus. Town Road”, which won the honor in 2020.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis were originally kicked out of the rap Grammys when the duo broke through with hits “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us” on the 2014 show. was canceled — and heavily criticized — when the group swept the rap Grammys, beating Kendrick Lamar and others — a decision even Macklemore denounced. As a result, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis did not submit their second album for the Grammy Awards on the 2017 show.