Grammy Award for Best Male Rap Solo Performance
Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Infobox award The Grammy Award for Best Male Rap Solo Performance was an honor presented to male recording artists at the 45th Grammy Awards in 2003 and the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004 for quality rap solo performances. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958, and originally called the Gramophone Awards,<ref name=Grammy>Template:Cite news</ref> are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".<ref name=Overview>Template:Cite web</ref>
Starting in 1991, the Academy began to honor individual rap performances with the Best Rap Solo Performance category. In 2003, the category was divided by gender with the introduction of the Female to accompany the award for Male Rap Solo Performances. The categories remained separated by gender until 2005 when they were combined into the genderless category originally known as Best Rap Solo Performance. American singers Nelly and Eminem received the awards for Best Male Rap Solo Performance.
Background
In 1991, the Academy began to honor individual rap performances with the Best Rap Solo Performance category. The category name remained unchanged until 2004 when it was split into separate categories for Female and Male Rap Solo Performances. The categories remained separated by gender for one additional year. In 2005, they were merged into the genderless category originally known as Best Rap Solo Performance.<ref name=Watson>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Female rapper MC Lyte has campaigned for the reinstatement of the female-specific category and believes that "it destroys [hip-hop] culture to not have the perspective of a woman".<ref name=Watson/> Bill Freimuth, Recording Academy Vice President of Awards,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> claimed that the category was eliminated because "[there] wasn't enough competition essentially, due to the lack of the number of releases in that category."<ref name=Fekadu>Template:Cite news</ref> Black Entertainment Television (BET) executive Stephen Hill cited a similar reason for the elimination of the female categories by the BET Hip Hop Awards and VH1's Hip Hop Honors,<ref name=Watson/> reflecting a lack of female representation in the hip hop music scene for several years.<ref name=Fekadu/> As of 2011, the category name has not changed since 2005.
Recipients
| Year | Winner(s) | Title | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Nelly | "Hot In Herre" | Template:Smalldiv | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
| 2004 | Eminem | "Lose Yourself" | Template:Smalldiv | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
For the 45th Grammy Awards (2003), Best Male Rap Solo Performance nominees included: Eminem for "Without Me", Jay-Z for "Song Cry", Ludacris for "Rollout (My Business)", Mystikal for "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against the Wall)", and Nelly for "Hot in Herre".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Additionally Eminem was nominated for: Record of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video for "Without Me" as well as Album of the Year and Best Rap Album for The Eminem Show.<ref name=45th>Template:Cite web</ref> Ludacris' Word of Mouf and Mystikal's Tarantula were also nominated for Best Rap Album.<ref name=45th/> Nelly also earned nominations for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album for the album Nellyville as well as Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for the song "Dilemma" (featuring Kelly Rowland), for a total five.<ref name=45th/> Regarding his nominations, Nelly commented: "It's always good to be nominated, especially for something as big as the Grammys. Just the recognition itself is an award. But you want that little gold record player. You just want to take it home."<ref>Template:Cite web Note: Additional reporting by John Norris, Minya Oh, and Shaheem Reid.</ref> The award for Best Male Rap Solo Performance was presented to Nelly at Madison Square Garden in New York City, though not broadcast on television.<ref name=Jones>Template:Cite web</ref> His performances of "Hot in Herre" and "Dilemma" alongside Rowland at the awards ceremony included pyrotechnics.<ref name=Jones/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In addition, Nelly received the Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.<ref name=Jones/>
Nominees for the 46th Grammy Awards included: 50 Cent for "In da Club", Joe Budden for "Pump It Up", Eminem for "Lose Yourself", Ludacris for "Stand Up", and Sean Paul for "Get Busy".<ref name=46th>Template:Cite news</ref> 50 Cent's other nominations included Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (with Lil' Kim), Best Rap Album for Get Rich or Die Tryin', and Best Rap Song for "In da Club", for a total of five.<ref name=46th/> "Lose Yourself" also earned Eminem nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Song, and Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.<ref name=46th/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Ludacris was also nominated for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Gossip Folks" (with Missy Elliott), while Paul was nominated for Best New Artist and received the award for Best Reggae Album for Dutty Rock.<ref name=46th/> The award was presented to Eminem, who also received the award for Best Rap Song.<ref name=46th/> "Lose Yourself" also earned Eminem an Academy Award for Best Original Song, marking the first rap song to receive the honor.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2004, the American Film Institute included the song at No. 93 on their list of "America's Greatest Music in the Movies" list and Rolling Stone ranked the song No. 166 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Prior to the separate female and male categories, Eminem received the award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 2000 for "My Name Is" and in 2001 for "The Real Slim Shady".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Nelly earned nominations in 2001 for "Country Grammar (Hot Shit)" and in 2002 for "Ride wit Me".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the return to the genderless category, Eminem earned nominations in 2005 for "Just Lose It",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in 2006 for "Mockingbird",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and in 2010 for "Beautiful".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Eminem was presented the award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 2011 for "Not Afraid".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Clear
See also
- Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance
- History of hip hop music
- List of awards and nominations received by Eminem
- List of awards and nominations received by Nelly
References
- General
- Template:Cite web Note: User must select the "Rap" category as the genre under the search feature.
- Template:Cite web
- Specific
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