From the pre-show at the Peacock Theatre to the main event at the Crypto.com Arena, the 66th edition of the Grammys, which was held on Sunday, February 4, 2024, was laden with drama.
365MediaHub takes a look at some of the events that defined the 2024 Grammys.
Nicki Minaj’s Prank
The Recording Academy sparked controversy after it appeared to have pranked rapper Nicki Minaj – the Grammy organisers announced ‘Barbie World’ by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice as the winner of the Best Rap Song category on their website and social media handles but later deleted it.
The organisers made a new announcement, flaunting Killer Mike’s ‘Scientists & Engineers’ as the rightful winner without any statement or apology for their initial error which angered fans of Nicki Minaj who hasn’t won a Grammy in over two decades of her career. The development means that Nicki Minaj is yet to have a Grammy to her name.
Jay-Z’s Outburst
American hip-hop legend, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter appeared to have called out the Grammy organisers while receiving the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award at the 2024 Grammys at the Crypto.com Arena, in Los Angeles, on Sunday.
Using his wife, Beyoncé’s Album of the Year snub as a case study, Jay-Z criticised the Recording Academy’s sense of judgment, pointing out that despite Beyoncé being the most awarded person in the Grammy’s history with a total of 32 awards, she has never won the Album of the Year category.
The Roc Nation boss said, “She [Beyoncé] has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. Most Grammys never won Album of the Year. That doesn’t work.”
He went on to accuse the Grammy organisers of “robbing” some nominees and awarding undeserving recipients.
“Some of you are going to go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category.
“Sorry, when I get nervous, I tell the truth,” Jay-Z said.
Killer Mike’s Arrest
Rapper, Killer Mike was arrested shortly after winning three golden gramophones at the 66th Grammys on Sunday night.
Chris Gardner, a senior staff writer for Hollywood Reporter, revealed via X that the rapper was “taken away handcuffs,” in the Crypto.com arena during the telecast for the main categories.
According to a statement by the Los Angeles Police Department, Mike Killer was booked for misdemeanour battery after being detained and questioned at the Grammys.
The statement added that the rapper was in the process of being released around the time the Grammys ended.
Nigeria’s Miss Out
The poor outing of Nigerian artists at the 66th Grammys appeared to be one of the major talking points from the event.
365MediaHub reports that the Nigerian quintet of Burna Boy, Ayra Starr, Davido, Asake, and Olamide were snubbed at the 66th Grammys on Sunday, with Tyla, the only non-Nigerian nominee in the maiden Best African Music Performance category, picking up the award.
Davido and Burna Boy also lost their nominations for the Best Global Music Album and Best Global Music Performance categories.
Burna Boy lost his nomination in the Best Melodic Rap Performance category as well.
Nigerian artists’ Grammy loss angered many of their compatriots, with some alleging that they were deliberately snubbed in a bid to suppress the buzzing Nigerian Afrobeats genre while others called for a boycott of the Grammys.
Davido’s hypeman, Special Spesh accused the Grammy organisers of trying to control African music, vowing that Africans won’t give them the power to downplay Afrobeats or any other African genre.
“We won’t give you the power to dumb Afrobeats down or Afrofusion or anything African!
“That’s (white) America’s problem! When things start to take over and get massive they always want a part then try to have a say then try to control,” Spesh wrote via Instagram.
Similarly, British-Nigerian media personality, Adesope Olajide, aka Shopsydoo, called for Africans, especially Nigerians to boycott the Grammys, accusing the Recording Academy of using Nigerian artists for promotion.
Speaking via an Instagram live session, Shopsydoo claimed that the Recording Academy does not care about African music, stressing that the Grammy band playing Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s ‘Water’ after ‘Water’ when South African singer, Tyla was announced as the winner of the inaugural Best African Music Performance category, was enough reason that the Grammy doesn’t have a clue about African music.