While Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” is now enjoying its seventh week at the top of Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs list, the song will be competing at the Grammys in the pop category.
The tune, which premiered at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in August, was originally submitted by Minaj to the rap categories at the Grammys, but the choice was reversed by the Recording Academy’s rap committee, a source said.
The committee decided that Minaj’s lighthearted and pop-sounding song, which samples Rick James’ 1981 classic “Super Freak,” ought to contend for the best pop solo performance honors rather than the rap category.
Emails requesting comment from representatives of Minaj and The Recording Academy did not immediately receive a response.
The 2023 Grammy Awards nominees will be revealed on November 15 and the live broadcast will stream on CBS on February 5, 2023. Voting for the initial slate of nominees starts on Thursday and runs until October 23.
Rapping or singing, often both at once, Minaj has contributed to a number of pop and hip-hop singles throughout the years.
With its specimen of Annie Lennox’s 1995 remix of “No More I Love Yous,” Minaj’s 2010 debut singing single “Your Love” was pop-adjacent.
She has since announced other pop-heavy songs like “Super Bass” and “Starships,” which Hot 97 radio host Peter Rosenberg notably dubbed “not real hip-hop” and which led Minaj to cancel her appearance at the station’s annual Summer Jam live show.
On the other hand, out of Minaj’s ten Grammy nominations, she has only entered the pop category once, competing with Ariana Grande and Jessie J for best pop duo/group performance with “Bang Bang.”
The majority of her Grammy nominations in the rap category have come for Pink Friday and The Pinkprint’s best rap albums, “Anacondabest “a rap song, and “Moment 4 Life” and “Truffle Butter best “‘s rap performances.
“Super Freaky Girl” is compared to Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” in the following ways: The breakout song by the singer-rapper spent 13 weeks at the top of Billboard’s rap chart and subsequently held the top spot on the Hot 100 all-genre chart for seven weeks, however, it was not nominated for a Grammy in the rap category. Instead, it was nominated for best pop solo performance in the 2020 event, which it ultimately won.
Post Malone’s “Better Now,” which combines hip-hop, alternative, and pop sounds, and Doja Cat’s “Say So,” which features both singing and rapping, are other songs with rap elements that have contended for the title of best pop solo performance.
Collaborations with Iggy Azalea and Charli XCX, Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth, and Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus, whose song “Old Town Road” won the Grammy for best pop duo/group performance in 2020, all peaked at the top of Billboard’s rap chart.
When the pair achieved success at the 2014 Grammys with the singles “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us,” they were initially expelled from the rap category.
But when the ensemble won the rap Grammys, besting Kendrick Lamar and others, that decision was eventually reversed, drawing harsh criticism from even Macklemore. As a result, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis decided not to enter their second album for the 2017 Grammy Awards.
