When the rap community boycotted the 1989 Grammys
Musicians across the world have always respected the Grammys, and for decades, it has been the most prestigious award an artist can earn in the music business. However, hip-hop’s relationship with the ceremony has always been rocky.
Rap music wasn’t always mainstream, and for a long time, the Grammys rejected the notion hip-hop was a credible genre worthy of an award. However, in 1989, the establishment could no longer ignore the popularity of rap and decided to (begrudgingly) give rap its own category. The burgeoning popularity of hip-hop music in America saw 1989 become the first year rappers could potentially earn a Grammy award. 1989 was a year full of fantastic music. From De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising to Big Daddy Kane’s It’s A Big Daddy Thing, there was a plethora of material to choose from.
LL Cool J, Kool Moe Dee, DJ Jazzy & The Fresh Prince, Salt-N-Pepa, and JJ Fad were among the nominees. However, a culture-wide movement to boycott the awards emerged after it was announced that the establishment had chosen the hip-hop award not to be a televised category.
As a milestone in hip-hop history, many MCs took it as a sign of disrespect when the Grammys insinuated that the genre wasn’t worth being broadcast. As a result, the whole of hip-hop pulled together to make sure the boycott got media attention.
In his 2021 autobiography, Will, Will Smith, who had been nominated in 1989, detailed the boycott, writing, “Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen organized the boycott, along with Salt-N-Pepa, Ice-T, Public Enemy, Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick, Stetsasonic, and many others, so even though we weren’t at the Grammys, Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince were everywhere else.”
One individual who helped change the Grammy’s perspective moving forward was the head of Rush Management and Def Jam’s publicity department, Bill Adler, who in a note to The Today Show and the establishment at large, expressed, “However exotic they might seem to the rest of us, acts like Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Eric B. and Rakim, Public Enemy, and EMPD are the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, James Brown, Bob Dylan, and Joe Tex of the day. They are ‘the sound of young America.”
The Grammy Awards is still a polarising ceremony with many, including the likes of Eminem, claiming it is not fit for purpose and is not based on artistic excellence but merely record sales.
The 2014 win by Macklemore at the expense of Kendrick Lamar and the nomination of Iggy Azalea’s project The New Classic for the ‘Best Rap Album’ signalled to many that the establishment was diluting the category with pop.
The Grammys came under fire from Azealia Banks that same year, who suggested that there are also racial preferences. Evidencing this, the Harlem native explained, “In this country, when it comes to our things, whether it’s black issues or black politics or black music, there’s always this undercurrent of a ‘Fuck you’. A ‘Fuck you n*ggas, y’all don’t really own shit. You don’t have shit’”.
She concluded, “That Macklemore album wasn’t better than the Drake record. That Iggy Azalea shit is not better than any fucking black girl that’s rapping today. The Grammys are supposed to be accolades for artistic excellence. Iggy Azalea isn’t excellent.”
The ceremony will continue to be a hot-button issue, but for now, you can hear more about the 1989 Grammy boycott in the video below.