Skip to main content

Hit-making rapper Nicki Minaj has been in the music industry for over a decade, and been earning Grammy Award nominations since the early 2010s. Her 2022 smash single “Super Freaky Girl” was submitted to the Recording Academy for its Best Rap Song award. But when ballots went out for the awards, “Super Freaky Girl” had been moved from the rap category to the pop category, drawing a backlash from Minaj herself and her legions of fans around the world.

Nicki Minaj, who was snubbed from the Grammys rap category in 2022, wearing a floral top
Nicki Minaj | Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images

Nicki Minaj’s ‘Super Freaky Girl’ was her first solo No. 1 single

Nicki Minaj first became a mainstream artist at the turn of the last decade with pop hits like “Super Bass” and “Your Love.” Minaj has notched over 120 different songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart since her debut.

In 2020, Minaj earned her first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for her guest verse on the remix of Doja Cat‘s No. 1 song “Say So.” Later that year, she earned another shared No. 1 for “Trollz,” her collaboration with controversial rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine.

In 2022, Minaj earned her first-ever solo No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Super Freaky Girl” samples Rick James’ hit 1981 single “Super Freak,” made famous a decade later by MC Hammer and his hit song “U Can’t Touch This.”

The song was snubbed from the 2023 Grammys rap category

“Super Freaky Girl” was submitted to the Recording Academy for Best Rap Song at the 2023 Grammy Awards, but was moved to the Best Pop Solo Performance category. Minaj took to Twitter to express her discontent with the decision, and specifically called out the Academy for keeping Latto’s song “Big Energy” in the rap category. She also noted that MC Hammer‘s “U Can’t Touch This,” which samples the same song, won the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1991.

“I have no prob being moved out the RAP category as long as we are ALL being treated FAIRLY. If [‘Super Freaky Girl’] has to be moved out RAP then so does ‘Big Energy’! Anyone who says diff is simply a Nicki hater or a troll.”

“I’d actually love to see a more street record win – male OR female!” she continued. “I’m just saying right is right.”

Related

Nicki Minaj Just Achieved a Feat No Female Rapper Has Done Since Lauryn Hill in 1998

She insisted ‘Big Energy’ be moved to the pop category

Minaj then took to Instagram to express more of her thoughts.

“If you can’t tell by now that there is a concerted effort to give newer artists things that they really don’t deserve over people who have been deserving for many years, then you’re not paying attention. And by the way, this is not to say any song is bad or any female rapper is bad,” she said. “I always say this: Any rapper, female or male, that wins a Grammy, you should be f***ing proud of yourself. But why is the goalpost only ever moved when it’s Nicki? Well, I’ll tell you why. They don’t want the people that they have in the industry to go up against me.”

“If ‘Super Freaky Girl’ is pop, then so is ‘Big Energy,'” she added. “If you move ‘Super Freaky Girl’ out of rap and put it in pop, do the same with ‘Big Energy.’ Right? Same producers on both songs, by the way, if you want to talk about it. So let’s keep s*** fair.”

Minaj then got into a heated Twitter exchange with Latto over the situation, with Minaj pointing out that Latto herself called “Big Energy” a pop song after its release. Ultimately, “Big Energy” remains nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance.

Best in Entertainment