Music

Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” is spending its eighth week on top of 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 the Billboard Hot 100 in August — to the rap categories at the Grammys, but the decision was overturned by the Recording Academy’s rap committee, according to a source. That group determined that Minaj’s playful and pop-sounding song sampling Rick James’ 1981 classic “Super Freak” should compete for best pop solo performance instead of rap awards.

Representatives for Minaj and The Recording Academy did not immediately reply to The Hollywood Reporter‘s emails seeking comment. Nominees for the 2023 Grammys will be announced on Nov. 15, and the live telecast will air on Feb. 5, 2023, on CBS. Voting for the first round of nominees begins Thursday and ends on Oct. 23.

Minaj has released a number of pop and hip-hop hits throughout the years that feature her rapping or singing — sometimes both on the same track. Her debut solo single, 2010’s “Your Love,” was pop-adjacent with its sample of Annie Lennox’s 1995 cover version of “No More I Love You’s,” and Minaj has released other pop-heavy songs like “Super Bass” and “Starships,” which Hot 97 radio host Peter Rosenberg famously 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 in pop once — for best pop duo/group performance with “Bang Bang” alongside Ariana Grande and Jessie J. The majority of her Grammy nominations have been in rap, including best rap album for Pink Friday and The Pinkprint, best 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 Hot Rap Songs for 13 weeks and eventually led the all-genre Hot 100 chart for seven weeks but it didn’t compete in the rap categories at the Grammys. Instead, it was nominated — and won — best pop solo performance at the 2020 show.

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

Collaborative songs that topped Billboard’s rap chart but competed for best pop duo/group performance at the Grammys include Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX’s “Fancy,” Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s “See You Again,” and Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Old Town Road,” which won the honor in 2020.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were originally kicked out of the rap Grammys when the duo had a breakthrough with the hits “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us” at the 2014 show. But that decision was later overturned — and heavily criticized — when the group swept the rap Grammys, besting Kendrick Lamar and others — a decision even Macklemore denounced. As a result, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis didn’t submit their sophomore album for Grammy contention at the 2017 show.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

Anitta, Zach Bryan, Dove Cameron, Becky G, Gayle, Latto, Måneskin, Muni Long, Lauren Spencer Smith and Lainey Wilson are among 368 artists who are vying for best new artist nominations at the 65th annual Grammy Awards. While the aforementioned artists appear to be front-runners to fill the 10 available slots, Grammy voters have a way of surprising us. And there are 358 other artists, some highly credible, who are also hoping to make the final list.

As expected, several newish artists who had previously received Grammy nominations were ruled ineligible, including Steve Lacy, Jack Harlow, Tems, Walker Hayes, Brent Faiyaz and Fivio Foreign. A previous nomination is an automatic disqualifier in this category (assuming the artist had released enough tracks to be eligible in a previous year).

But for the most part, the Academy tries to err on the side of inclusiveness in this category. In the past, Whitney Houston, Richard Marx, Lady Gaga and many more potential best new artist nominees and even winners were ruled ineligible based on what were sometimes nitpicky technicalities. The Academy now looks for ways to include artists, not rule them out. Indeed, several of the artists who were ruled eligible this year have been around awhile. Becky G won best new artist at the Latin Grammys four years ago. Other best new artist contenders who aren’t exactly new include Conan Gray, Joji, Moneybagg Yo, Orville Peck and Yungblud.

Here are more noteworthy artists, not already named, who are fighting for one of the 10 nomination slots: Amyl and the Sniffers, Omar Apollo, Tenille Arts, Beabadoobee, Em Beihold, Blxst, BRELAND, EST Gee, Fireboy DML,  FLETCHER, Ali Gatie, GloRilla, Cody Johnson, Hayley Kiyoko, Coi Leray, Lil Tjay, The Linda Lindas, Parker McCollum, Tate McRae, Mitski, Flo Milli, PinkPantheress, Rex Orange County, Rina Sawayama, SEVENTEEN, Soccer Mommy, Stray Kids, Don Toliver, Tomorrow X Together, Twice, Tai Verdes, Wet Leg, Yahritza Y Su Esencia, Yeat, and Bailey Zimmerman.

Several of these artists have already won new artist prizes at other award shows. Lainey Wilson and Parker McCollum won new female and male artist of the year, respectively, at the ACM Awards in March. Latto won best new artist at the BET Awards in June. Cameron won best new artist at the MTV Video Music Awards in August. GloRilla won best breakthrough hip-hop artist at the BET Hip Hop Awards in October.

Wilson is the leading nominee for the Country Music Awards, which will be presented on Nov. 9. She is nominated for new artist of the year at that show, along with Cody Johnson and Parker McCollum, who are also on the Grammy entry list, and HARDY and Walker Hayes, who are not.

The number of best new artist nominees at the Grammys jumped from five to eight four years ago, and from eight to 10 last year. The winners in the past four years, since the number of number of nominees expanded, were Dua Lipa (2018), Billie Eilish (2019), Megan Thee Stallion (2020) and Olivia Rodrigo (2021). As you can see, Grammy voters tend to favor female artists in this category. The 2017 winner (the last year there were just five nominees), was also a woman (Alessia Cara).

Last year’s nine other nominees — besides Rodrigo — were Arroj Aftab, Jimmie Allen, Baby Keem, FINNEAS, Glass Animals, Japanese Breakfast, The Kid LAROI, Arlo Parks and Saweetie.

The number of artists vying for nominations in this category (368) is down from last year, when there were 463. But it’s up from the three years before that. The number of contenders in this category peaked in 2013 at 670.

First-round voting for the 65th annual Grammy Awards opened on Thursday (Oct. 13) and closes Oct. 23. Nominees will be announced on Nov. 15. The final-round voting window extends from Dec. 14 through Jan. 4, 2023. Winners will be announced on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, at Crypto.com Arena (formerly known as Staples Center) in Los Angeles.