The Grammy Awards Switch Categories On Nicki Minaj Track For Being 'Too Pop'

"Super Freaky Girl" has been dominating the Billboards Hot Rap Song chart, but the song by rapperNicki Minaj will not be eligible for the Grammys' Rap category.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, the track has been deemed "too pop," and as a result, it will not be competing in the Rap category at the 2023 Grammy Awards.

Since the song is now being viewed as a "pop" song, it will now be competing in the Pop category for the Grammys.

THR reports that Minaj originally submitted the track to the Rap categories at the Grammys. However, the decision was reportedly overturned by the Recording Academy's rap committee. The issue is that since the playful and pop-sounding track samples rick James' 1981 classic, "Super Freak," it should compete for Best Pop Solo Performance rather than rap awards.

Representatives for Minaj and The Recording Academy did not immediately reply to comment on THR's report. The 2023 Grammy Awards nominees will be announced later next month. The live awards ceremony will be broadcast in February 2023 on CBS. Voting for the first round of nominees will start on Thursday, October 13, ending on October 23.

The track debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart earlier in August. Minaj has been nominated for 10 Grammy Awards throughout her career, but she has yet to win the award. Her first Grammy nod was for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 2011 for the track, "My Chick Bad," with fellow hip-hop artist Ludacris at the 53rd Grammy Awards.

She has competed in the Grammy Awards' Pop category before. In 2015, she was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Bang Bang" with Jessie J. That same year, her track, "Anaconda," was also nominated for Best Rap Song.

Comparatively, Lizzo's track "Truth Hurts" was on Billboard's Rap chart for 13 weeks and also topped the Hot 100 chart for seven weeks. However, it did not compete in any of the Rap categories at the Grammys. The song did end up winnings its nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards.

Nicki Minaj herself later addressed the change for the song being moved out of the Rap category by the Grammys in a post on her official Twitter account on Thursday (Oct. 13). Minaj wrote, "I have no prob being moved out the RAP category as long as we r ALL being treated FAIRLY."

She also stated that if "Super Freaky Girl" is being moved categories, then Latto's track, "Big Energy," should be moved as well. She continued, "If SFG has 2B moved out RAP then so does Big Energy!" She went on, "ANY1 who says diff is simply a Nicki hater or a troll. I'd actually LUV 2 c a more street record win- male OR female! IJS rightISRight."

https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/1580703316073361408

Variety reports that The Recording Academy never reveals its reasoning for its screening committees on why tracks are shifted from one category to another. The ballot, which can typically include thousands of submissions for a given category is never released to the general public.

Insiders became aware of the switch for Minaj's track after the ballot was sent to Grammy voters yesterday. Additionally, artists objecting to submissions being switched to different categories tends to be an annual occurrence.

The 2023 Grammy nominees will be announced on Tuesday, November 15. The 65th Grammy Awards will be held on Sunday, February 5. The event will be held live at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. It will be broadcast live on CBS, and it will also stream live and on-demand on Paramount+.