Updated 10/18/2022 at 10:25 a.m. ET
While her hit “Super Freaky Girl” has been moved to the pop solo performance category for the 2023 Grammys, Nicki Minaj does have other eligible songs in rap categories.
According to Variety, her “Do We Have a Problem?” collaboration with Lil Baby has been submitted in the best rap performance category. The “Super Bass” artist’s featured appearance on “Blick Blick,” with Coi Leray is also eligible for Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song , while “Love in the Way” with Bleu has been submitted for Best Rap Song and Best Melodic Rap Performance.
Of course, this doesn’t mean these songs are going to be nominated, they’re just eligible to receive nods in these categories. Moving “Super Freaky Girl” to pop solo performance is still an issue, because it’s Nicki’s biggest hit and the song most likely to be nominated for a Grammy.
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We’re just about a month away from nominees for the 2023 Grammys being announced and controversy is already overshadowing the awards.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, superstar Nicki Minaj’s hit song “Super Freaky Girl” has been removed from the rap awards and placed in the Best Pop Solo Performance category. While she originally submitted the track for rap categories, THR’s sources say it was overruled by the rap committee, which decided “Minaj’s playful and pop-sounding song sampling Rick James’ 1981 classic ‘Super Freak’ should compete for Best Pop Solo Performance instead.”
Considering her song spent eight weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 rap chart, Minaj was shocked at the change. She questioned the Recording Academy’s decision in a 17 minute Instagram video, where she wonders why Latto’s hit “Big Energy” wasn’t moved to the pop category as well.
“If ‘Super Freaky Girl’ is pop, then so is ‘Big Energy,’” she said. “If you move ‘Super Freaky Girl’ out of rap and put it in pop, do the same with ‘Big Energy.’ Right? Same producers on both songs, by the way, if you want to talk about it. So let’s keep shit fair.”
The “Fly” artist also criticized the move on Twitter, where she once again brought Latto’s “Big Energy” into the conversation.
“I have no prob being moved out the RAP category as long as we r ALL being treated FAIRLY. If SFG [‘Super Freaky Girl’] has 2B moved out RAP then so does ‘Big Energy!’” Minaj wrote. “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”
While it’s true that there are similarities between the two songs, it feels premature for Nicki to single out “Big Energy.” These sort of controversies aren’t new to the Grammys, but what always gets the Recording Academy in trouble is the fact that these things happen in secret. If we all know a song is clearly a rap track and you’ve previously only recognized that artist in rap categories, why are you all of a sudden changing the rules? Be open about it and show your work.
As you would expect, Latto took offense at Minaj’s comments and responded with her own tweets, which quickly escalated into insults. The two artists spoke via Twitter direct message, but the conflict went public again with Latto tweeting, “I’ve ignored countless subtweets since March and instead addressed u in the dm. You’re asking why I didn’t speak up in ur defense... it’s the same answer I gave u when u asked why I didn’t congratulate you. Ur literally older than my mom tryna be a bully @NICKIMINAJ.”
She then continued tweeting, noting how Nicki was once her role model and someone she wanted to work with, writing, “I literally named u as my dream collab multiple times in multiple interviews… like I told u otp [on the phone] I looked up to u… u still never answered my question about where the random shade started coming from.”
Latto ended her Twitter tirade by pointing out that Nicki said she wasn’t “flourishing” and that the song wasn’t a big deal, tweeting, “With all this being said this wasn’t JUST about a Grammy category. U being funny bringing me up to defend ur case knowing our last convo didn’t end on good terms. U literally told me I’m not “flourishing” and no one cares about my “little song” otp lol @NICKIMINAJ.”
Look, it’s obvious there’s more going on between these women than just Grammy politics and dueling hits. However, specifically where the Grammys are concerned, I’d much rather see them put the blame for this mess where it belongs–and that’s with the Recording Academy. Airing their business in public like this isn’t really helping to change the system or the manner in how these awards are decided.
Nominations for the 2023 Grammys are scheduled to be announced on Nov. 15, with the big show once again taking place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and airing live on Sunday, Feb. 5 on CBS and Paramount+.