Grammy Predictions: Rap Field

Ever since the Grammys released its nominations for their 55th annual ceremony, I've been trying to figure out who will take home the awards for the respective category. I tend to focus mostly on the Rap category because it is the genre I prefer. In this blog entry, I will state my predictions for each of the categories of the Rap field, any snubs that I believe have occurred and any surprises as well. 

Best Rap/Sung Collaborations: 

- Wild Ones (Feat. Sia) - Flo Rida
- No Church in the Wild (Feat. Frank Ocean) - Jay-Z & Kanye West
- Cherry Wine (Feat. Amy Winehouse) - Nas
- Talk That Talk (Feat. Jay-Z) - Rihanna
- Tonight (Best You Ever Had) (Feat. Ludacris) - John Legend

For this category, I can easily rule out all but No Church in the Wild and Cherry Wine because I believe those two are the best of the list. No Church in the Wild is a very dark ominous track with a great verse from Jay-Z and a beautifully sung hook by Frank Ocean. Cherry Wine was also a very great track with a beautifully sung chorus by the late Amy Winehouse (R.I.P.) while Nas spits great lyrics about love and soulmates. It is hard to choose between the two, so I'll give it to the song I prefer (Cherry Wine), but I'm pretty sure the award won't go to any other songs in this category.





 Best Rap Performance:

- HYFR (Hell Ya F**kin' Right) (Feat. Lil Wayne) - Drake
- Ni**as in Paris - Jay-Z & Kanye West
- Daughters - Nas
- Mercy (Feat. Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz) - Kanye West
- I Do (Feat. Andre 3000 & Jay-Z) - Young Jeezy 

I personally want Nas's Daughters to take this one because Nas performed this on Letterman and The Colbert Report flawlessly. With this song, Nas tackles how he hasn't been the best role model for his daughter and how he wants to become a better father. I believe this is one of the best rap songs released this year and I really wish it would receive this honor. While I want Nas to win this one, I think Jay-Z & Kanye West's Ni**as in Paris will win because of the popularity of the song, having been performed 8-10 consecutive times in concerts, which gives it a good chance of winning. So even though I want Daughters to win, I do think Ni**as in Paris has a higher chance of winning.   



Best Rap Song:

Daughters - Nas
Lotus Flower Bomb (Feat. Miguel) - Wale
Mercy (Feat. Big Sean, Pusha T & 2 Chainz) - Kanye West
The Motto (Feat. Lil Wayne) - Drake 
Ni**as in Paris - Jay-Z & Kanye West
Young, Wild & Free (Feat. Bruno Mars) - Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa 

This category is kinda hard to predict because so many of the songs in this category were so successful that they might have a better chance of winning due to their exposure while others were less successful but received great acclaim. To make it easier, I will break it down to two possibilities: Daughters or Ni**as in Paris. For the same reasons I have talked about before, I think these two have a high chance of winning. I would rather see Nas win because he's been in the game for over two decades and still has no Grammys while Kanye West and Jay-Z have been winning year after year. I wouln't be surprised if The Motto took it because of its popularity, but I would prefer if one of the other two won it. 

Best Rap Album:

Take Care - Drake
Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 - Lupe Fiasco
Life is Good - Nas
Undun - The Roots
God Forgives, I Don't - Rick Ross
Based On A T.R.U. Story - 2 Chainz

For this category in particular, I find it hard to predict because my decision would vary from who I WANT to win and who I THINK will win. I would love to see Lupe Fiasco or The Roots walk off with this one, because they might be the most deserving for this category. I also want Nas to win because he deserves a Grammy after all those years but after thinking about it for some time, I came to a final decision. I think Drake's Take Care is going to take this one home. Take Care blew critics away last year and ended on many publications' End of the Year lists. It sold more than all the other albums in this category combined (1.8 million copies!), giving it a higher chance of winning. HOWEVER, since it was released at the end of last year, critics might be more leaned on to voting for the newer acclaimed album Life Is Good, which many commended as being Nas's most cohesive and best album since Stillmatic. Either way, they're both great albums that I loved, so I'm gonna label both as possibilities. 


Snubs:

Lupe Fiasco's "Around My Way (Freedom Ain't Free)": I thought this was one of the best songs released in 2012 and I really thought it would land at least a Best Rap Performance nomination, but Lupe only received one nomination that he will probably lose. 

Drake's "Take Care (Feat. Rihanna)": This ballad between Rihanna and Drake was very well received and attained great commercial performance. I expected to find it nominated in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category but it wasn't. But both artists received nominations this year, so they shouldn't be too upset about this. 

Drake's "Crew Love (Feat. The Weeknd)": I expected this song, assisted by The Weeknd's beautifully sung contribution, to land a nomination in the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration category, but sadly it didn't...

Lupe Fiasco's "Battle Scars": I believe this song truly deserved a nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration because Guy Sebastian's vocals on that track were incredible and Lupe killed the verses on this one. It was very disappointing to see this song lacking a nomination for the mentioned category.

Surprises:

2 Chainz "Based on a T.R.U. Story" nomination for Best Rap Album: When I heard this I thought it was a joke. Not that I have any hate for 2 Chainz (He is a hype performer), but I don't believe his album was good enough to be nominated, good enough at all as a matter of fact! Congrats anyway...

Wale's "Lotus Flower Bomb" nomination for Best Rap Song: Not really Wale's biggest fan but I wasn't expecting a nomination for him in any category.

Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa's "Young, Wild & Free" nomination for Best Rap Song: I didn't really like this song or the appeal so to see it nominated for this honor instead of many other great songs was very disappointing. 

Flo Rida's "Wild Ones" nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: I have always despised Flo Rida for taking Hip-Hop in a Pop oriented direction. I never considered his music "Rap" so it was also disappointing to see this song get a nomination. At least it wasn't Whistle...

So these are my predictions for the forthcoming 55th Grammy Awards. I might do predictions for the Genral Field soon, but until then take care. 

What do you think? Do you have similar predictions or do you not agree with mine? Please comment and let me know :)