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Grammy voting in controversy as Nicki Minaj claims her hit was wrongly categorized
Nicki Minaj, performing onstage at the 2022 MTV VMAs at Prudential Center on Aug. 28, 2022 in Newark, N.J.
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Voting for the Grammy Awards is just getting started, and the process is already generating some drama: Nicki Minaj, the Queens-raised rapper with over 20 Top-10 hits to her name, submitted her song "Super Freaky Girl" for competition in the ceremony's various rap categories. However, the Recording Academy, parent organization of the Grammys, decided to categorize the song as pop, putting it in the running within a genre that Minaj doesn't see herself or her song as belonging to.
Minaj "was angry when it came back in the pop categories," explains NPR Music's Stephen Thompson. And understandably so, Thompson explains – a similarly constructed song, "Big Energy" by the emerging rapper Latto, was accepted for consideration within the awards' rap categories.
As Minaj herself wondered, why is her song a pop song while Latto's is rap? And what about the wider relevance of the Grammys themselves? Let's take a closer look.
To hear the full conversation, use the audio player at the top of this page.
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