Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance
"All My Life" by Lil Durk & J. Cole is the most recent recipient
Awarded forQuality songs featuring both rapped and sung vocals
CountryUnited States
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded2002
Currently held byLil Durk featuring J. Cole, "All My Life" (2024)
Websitegrammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance (awarded as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration until 2017, and Best Rap/Sung Performance from 2018 to 2020) is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,[1] to recording artists for quality songs on which rappers and singers collaborate. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually 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".[2]

The name and definition of the category were changed in June 2020, with immediate effect, to represent the inclusivity of the growing hybrid performance trends within the rap genre. According to the Recording Academy, "This category is intended to recognize solo and collaborative performances containing elements of rap and melody over modern production. This performance requires a strong and clear presence of melody combined with rap cadence, and is inclusive of dialects, lyrics or performance elements from non-rap genres including R&B, rock, country, electronic or more. The production may include traditional elements of rap or elements characteristic of the aforementioned non-rap genres."[3]

The award goes to the artist(s). The producer, engineer and songwriter can apply for a Winners Certificate.[4]

American rapper Eve and American singer Gwen Stefani won the first award in 2002 with "Let Me Blow Ya Mind". The pair were also nominated a second time in 2006 for "Rich Girl". American rapper Jay-Z has received seven Grammys in the category— four times as lead artist and three times as featured artist; he has also been nominated for three other songs. Rihanna is the female artist with the most wins in the category, with five wins out of nine total nominations.

Recipients

A dark haired woman wearing a red dress
Inaugural winner and two-time nominee Eve
A blonde woman wearing a black and white-striped top singing into a microphone
Inaugural winner and two-time nominee Gwen Stefani
A man dressed in black rapping in front of a band
Seven-time winner and eleven-time nominee Jay-Z
A man wearing a blue T-shirt, a black jacket and sunglasses
Five-time winner and fifteen-time nominee Kanye West
A woman wearing a black dress singing
Five-time winner and nine-time nominee Rihanna
2017 winner, Drake
2021 winner, Anderson .Paak
Year[I] Performing artist(s) Work Nominees Ref.
2002 Eve featuring Gwen Stefani "Let Me Blow Ya Mind"
[5]
2003 Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland "Dilemma" [6]
2004 Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z "Crazy in Love" [7]
2005 Usher featuring Ludacris and Lil Jon "Yeah!" [8]
2006 Linkin Park and Jay-Z "Numb/Encore"
[9]
2007 Justin Timberlake featuring T.I. "My Love"
[10]
2008 Rihanna featuring Jay-Z "Umbrella" [11]
2009 Estelle featuring Kanye West "American Boy"
[12]
2010 Jay-Z featuring Rihanna and Kanye West "Run This Town" [13]
2011 Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind" [14]
2012 Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie "All of the Lights"
  • Kelly Rowland and Lil Wayne – "Motivation"))
    		•  [15]
    2013 Jay-Z, Kanye West, Frank Ocean and The-Dream "No Church in the Wild"
    		[16]
    2014 Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake "Holy Grail" [17]
    2015 Eminem featuring Rihanna "The Monster"
    		[18]
    2016 Kendrick Lamar featuring Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat "These Walls" [19]
    2017 Drake "Hotline Bling" [20]
    2018 Kendrick Lamar featuring Rihanna "Loyalty"
    		[21]
    2019 Childish Gambino "This Is America" [22]
    2020 DJ Khaled featuring Nipsey Hussle and John Legend "Higher" [23]
    2021 Anderson .Paak "Lockdown"
    2022 Kanye West featuring The Weeknd and Lil Baby "Hurricane" [24]
    2023 Future featuring Drake and Tems "Wait for U"
    		[25]
    2024 Lil Durk featuring J. Cole "All My Life" [26]

    ^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

    Artists with multiple wins

    7 wins
    5 wins
    2 wins

    Artists with multiple nominations

    See also

    References

    General

    • "Past Winners Search – Rap". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 15, 2011.
    • "Grammy Awards: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration". Rock on the Net. Retrieved March 16, 2011.

    Specific

    1. ^ "Grammy Awards at a Glance". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
    2. ^ "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
    3. ^ Grammy.com, 10 June 2020
    4. ^ Grammy Blue Book (2021 edition)
    5. ^ "Complete List Of Grammy Nominees". CBS News. January 4, 2002. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
    6. ^ "Complete list of Grammy nominees; ceremony set for Feb. 23". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. January 8, 2003. p. 4. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
    7. ^ "Complete list of Grammy nominations". The Seattle Times. The Seattle Times Company. December 5, 2003. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
    8. ^ "Fast Facts: List of Grammy Nominees". Fox News Channel. February 13, 2005. Archived from the original on 2011-01-31. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
    9. ^ "Blues, Folk, Reggae and World Music Nominees and Winners". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
    10. ^ "49th Annual Grammy Nominees". CBS News. CBS. December 7, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
    11. ^ "The Complete List of Grammy Nominees". The New York Times. December 6, 2007. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
    12. ^ Rich, Joshua (December 4, 2008). "Grammy nominations announced!". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
    13. ^ "Grammy Awards: List of Winners". The New York Times. January 31, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2011.
    14. ^ "53rd Annual Grammy Awards nominees list". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
    15. ^ "Final Nominations List – 54th Grammy Awards" (PDF). National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. 2011. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 5, 2011.
    16. ^ "Grammys 2013: Complete list of nominees and winners". Los Angeles Times. 2013-02-10. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-04-06.
    17. ^ "Grammys 2014: The complete list of nominees and winners". Los Angeles Times. 2014-01-26. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-04-06.
    18. ^ "57th Grammy Nominees". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
    19. ^ "Grammy Nominations 2016: See the Full List of Nominees". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
    20. ^ "59th Grammy Nominees". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
    21. ^ Lynch, Joe (November 28, 2017). "Grammys 2018 Nominees: The Complete List". Billboard. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
    22. ^ "61st Annual GRAMMY Awards". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
    23. ^ "2020 GRAMMY Awards: Complete Nominees List". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
    24. ^ "2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Nominations List". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
    25. ^ "2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
    26. ^ "2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Full Nominees List | GRAMMY.com". www.grammy.com. Retrieved 2023-11-10.

    External links

    Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance
    Grammy Award categories
    Grammy Awards
    Categories