After spending its seventh week at the top of the Billboard Top Rap Songs list, Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” will compete in the pop category at the Grammys.
The song, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in August, was originally submitted by Minaj for consideration in the rap categories of the Grammys, but the Recording Academy’s rap committee reversed its decision, a source said. This group decided that the lighthearted, pop-tinged single by Nicki Minaj, which samples the iconic “Super Freak” by Rick James from 1981, should compete for best pop solo performance instead of rap honors.
In a series of tweets and an Instagram video posted on Thursday, Minaj attacked the choice. “When it comes to goalposts, they move them,in front of me,” Minaj wrote on Instagram. Why does the goalpost always move when Nicki is involved?
Latto’s “Big Energy,” which is pop-heavy and samples Tom Tom Club’s 1981 song “Genius of Love,” which was made famous by Mariah Carey for the #1 was sampled by Click Fantasy, could compete in the pop market as well, according to Minaj.
As long as we are all treated fairly, I have no problem being promoted out of the RAP category, she tweeted. “If SFG (Super Freaky Girl) took 2B out of RAP, Big Energy followed suit! Anybody who claims otherwise is either a troll or a Nicki hater. Latto’s “Big Energy” stayed at #1 on the Billboard rap chart for two weeks and reached #3 on the all-genre Hot 100 chart. At the Grammys, “Big Energy” will compete for rap Grammys, not pop.
A representative from The Recording Academy did not respond to an email requesting comment.
The 2023 Grammys nominees will be announced November 15 and the live broadcast will air February 5, 2023 on CBS. Voting for the first round of nominations begins on Thursday and ends on October 23.
Minaj has released a slew of pop and hip-hop hits over the years in which she raps or sings — sometimes both on the same track. Her 2010 debut solo single “Your Love” was pop-centric with its sample of Annie Lennox’s 1995 cover of “No More I Love You’s,” and Minaj has released other pop-heavy songs like “Super Bass” and “Starships,” famously called Hot 97 radio host Peter Rosenberg “not real hip-hop” and prompted Minaj to pull out of the station’s annual Summer Jam concert.
