The 53rd Grammy Awards are going down this weekend and we can't front like we're not excited. Sure, the Grammys have a history of playing out hip-hop, but this year a number of rappers have legitimate shots at winning major awards. However, judging by the rap nominations, some of the awards have already been decided. For example, Eminem's Recovery is nominated for Best Rap Album and it's the only rap album nominated for Best Album—which means he's gonna win Best Rap Album no matter what (think about it). Ditto for Eminem and Jay-Z dominating most of the Rap Song awards, sometimes even being nominated twice in one category. In other words, we're expecting Em and Jay to bring home the gold (There's always next year B.o.B.!). Still, there are three main awards we're interested in because we're not sure who will win. The awards for Album of The Year, the rap heavy Record of The Year, and Best New Artist may or may not go in hip-hop's favor. That's why we decided to let fans vote on who they think will win.
Album of The Year: Eminem once rhymed, "You think I give a fuck about a Grammy?/Half of you critics can't even stomach me, let alone stand me." But that was a decade ago. Nowadays, critics love Em and his seventh album, Recovery, which is probably why he's going to kick off the show with a performance. But he's facing some stiff competition from Arcade Fire, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Lady Antebellum. But Em beats them all in one category the Grammys love: Seniority. Marshall has been winning Grammys since the late '90s and his magnum opus, The Marshall Mathers LP, totally got robbed for Album of The Year when he lost to Steely Dan back in the day. Plus, Em's public battle with addiction makes this such a "feel good" story. If any year belongs to Eminem, it's this one.
Record of The Year: We're gonna be really, really pissed if Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" wins this award because every other song nominated for this award is more or less a hip-hop record. "Fuck You" may not be a straight-up rap song, but Cee-Lo was a major part of Goodie Mob's Soul Food, which means his hip-hop stamp is approved for life. Meanwhile, Jay-Z, Eminem, and to a lesser extent, B.o.B. all have a good shot taking home this award. Why is all this so important? Because no rap song has ever won Record of The Year.
Best New Artist: Two rap acts have won this award before—Lauryn Hill in 1999 and Arrested Development in 1993 (!!!)—so we don't see why Drake can't be the third. For one, he spent some time last year kissing up to the Grammy board so we know he's already cool with them. Second, Drake makes pop friendly music that is nowhere nearly as violent and offensive as say...50 Cent who manged to sell a shitload of records in 2003 and still lost this award to Evanescence. The only problem for Drake? Drake is going head-to-head against Justin Bieber (as well as his new friends from Florence + The Machine). And we all know what happened when Drake lost to Biebs at the MTV Awards.
