Awards & Winners

Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance is an honor presented to recording artists at the 31st Grammy Awards in 1989 and the 32nd Grammy Awards in 1990 and again from 2012 for quality rap performances. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, 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". The first award for Best Rap Performance was first presented to DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince for "Parents Just Don't Understand". The ceremony was not without controversy; nominees Jeff and Smith led a boycott in protest of the award presentation not being televised, and some members of the rap community felt that more qualified artists were overlooked. After the 1990 ceremony, where Young MC won the award, the category was split into Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. These two categories were once again combined from 2012, as a result of a restructure of Grammy categories. It was the consequence of the Recording Academy's wish to decrease the list of categories and awards and to eliminate the distinctions between solo and duo or group performances.

Check all the winners of Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance presented under Grammy Awards since 1988 .


Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Wanz

Honored for : Thrift Shop

Nominations 2013 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Drake Started From the Bottom
Eminem Berzerk
Jay-Z Tom Ford
Kendrick Lamar Swimming Pools (Drank)
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Thrift Shop
Wanz Thrift Shop

Kanye West, Jay-Z

Honored for : Niggas in Paris

Nominations 2012 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Drake HYFR (Hell Ya Fuckin' Right)
Featuring Lil' Wayne / Take Care
Kanye West Niggas in Paris
Track from: Watch The Throne
Jay-Z Niggas in Paris
Track from: Watch The Throne
Nas Daughters
Track from: Life Is Good
Kanye West Mercy
Featuring Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz
Young Jeezy I Do
Featuring Jay-Z & André 3000 / Track from: TM: 103 Hustlerz Ambition

Jay-Z, Kanye West

Honored for : Otis

Nominations 2011 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Jay-Z Otis
Kanye West Otis
Chris Brown
Lupe Fiasco The Show Goes On
Nicki Minaj Moment 4 Life
Wiz Khalifa Black and Yellow

Young MC

Honored for : Bust a Move
(Artist)

Nominations 1989 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Tone-L?c Funky Cold Medina
De La Soul Me Myself And I
Public Enemy Fight the Power
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson
Young MC Bust a Move

DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

Honored for : Parents Just Don't Understand
(Artist)

Nominations 1988 »

Nominee Nominated Work
J. J. Fad Supersonic
Kool Moe Dee Wild Wild West
LL Cool J Going Back to Cali
Salt-N-Pepa Push It
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince Parents Just Don't Understand