The Hit Music Academy

Back in 2002, the year when the Grammy’s gave out their 1st ever award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, the winning song was “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” by Eve & Gwen Stefani.

The reason why I used to like this award so much was because it represented the bridge between the rap community and the R&B community.  Not just R&B, but pop and every other song form/style where singing is the focus (as opposed to rapping, of course).

That collaboration element appealed to me.  Great collaborations are a thing of beauty.

But now, as of 2017, no collaboration necessary.

In 2017, according to the Recording Academy, the award has been changed “to represent the current state and future trajectory of rap by expanding the category beyond collaborations between rappers and vocalists to include recordings by a solo artist who blurs the lines between rapping and singing.” (June 2016 Grammy press release).

Meaning solo recordings are no longer excluded.  Meaning the award could (potentially) be dominated by solo superstars.  That takes the fun out of what this award was designed to be.

I respect solo stars who can blend rap and singing elements skillfully and melodically.  That’s not the problem.  The problem is removing an award that rewards and requires a team-based vocal performance and creative collaboration, and replacing it with another solo dolo superstar artist award.

2 categories woulda been cool.  Rap/Sung Performance AND Rap/Sung Collaboration.  That makes the playing field more interesting.  Because you get to see awesome collaborative cross-genre efforts AND amazing solo performances both get a win.  2 great categories that both emphasize mixing rap with other music?  How awesome would that be?

But yo, congratulations to Drake, because “Hotline Bling” is clearly the winner here, no contest.

2017 Grammy Award Winner for Best Rap/Sung Performance:

Drake – “Hotline Bling”

Drizzy Drake – The greatly hated but still underrated.

Because let’s be honest.  Drake is smashing what it means to do rap and pop at the same time.  Absolutely demolishing everything.  There is no one near him on a commercial scale, on a number of hits since 2009 for a rapper who pop/raps his way up and down the charts all year every year with such consistency.  The current reigning Billboard rap/pop heavyweight (middleweight?) champion of the Billboard pop music chart machine.

|The Hit Music Academy 2017|