Nicki Minaj called out the Recording Academy Thursday after learning her chart-topping single “Super Freaky Girl” was removed from the Grammy Awards rap category, and instead put in the more competitive pop category.
In a lengthy Instagram Live, Minaj criticized the decision, saying: “I only rapped on the song.”
She mentioned Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” which won Grammys for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Performance in 2017, and praised Drake for speaking up about “Hotline Bling” being misclassified as a rap song.
“He did the right thing. If you know something is unfair as an artist, speak out on that sh-t,” Minaj said.
Then she turned her attention to Latto’s 2021 hit “Big Energy” — which is expected to get nominated in the rap category.
“If ‘Super Freaky Girl’ is a pop song, what genre is ‘Big Energy’?” Minaj asked. “They stay moving the goalpost when it comes to me in order for them to uplift the people who they want to shine.”
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She told her followers moving her to the pop category to compete against pop stars puts her at a disadvantage with the Recording Academy’s “older” and “white” voters.
“What do you think is going to happen when they start voting on these pop categories? It’s a bunch of people, white or wherever they’re from, or older or whatever, and they have to decide between Nicki Minaj and Harry Styles or Nicki Minaj and Adele?” she said.
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Minaj made the comments shortly after The Hollywood Reporter published a story saying “Super Freaky Girl” was dropped from the rap category because it was “deemed too pop.”
The outlet said Minaj’s team submitted the song for consideration in the rap categories, “but the decision was overturned by the Recording Academy’s rap committee.”
In her Instagram Live, Minaj said the decision was intentional.
“That’s purposely designed,” she stated. “‘Put her in there so she has less of a chance to win.'”
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The rapper said she refused to be silent about the way Black female artists are treated.
“Black women… a lot of time we don’t speak up until it’s too late,” she continued. “This sh-t has got to stop.”
“Super Freaky Girl” was released on Aug. 12. The song, which samples Rick James “Super Freak,” has been No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart for eight weeks.
