GRAMMYs 2022 roundup: Best Rap Song

With the 2022 Grammys around the corner, the Rap Song category is a hotly-contested one (Images via Instagram: @saweetie, @dmx and Twitter: @photosofkanye)
With the 2022 Grammys around the corner, the Rap Song category is a hotly-contested one (Images via Instagram: @saweetie, @dmx and Twitter: @photosofkanye)

As part of the SKPop Grammys roundup 2022, here is a glance at the category of Best Rap Song.

Rap is an abbreviation of "rhythm and poetry". Naturally, the songwriter is an important facet of a rap song. In a sample-heavy genre, it is the lyricism, above everything else, that makes or breaks a rap song.

The Best Rap Song Grammy was first presented to Eminem for Lose Yourself (from the 8 Mile soundtrack) in 2004. Rap's resident mad scientist Kanye West has the record for most wins (6 out of 15 nominations). He is nominated this year as well.

An important distinction between the Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song is that the former is awarded to the artist, along with the songwriter and producer, while the latter is awarded solely to the songwriter.


A brief glance at the nominees for this year's Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song

DMX Ft. Jay-Z and Nas - "Bath Salts"

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Late rap icon DMX passed away in April 2021 due to heart complications resulting from a drug overdose. By then, work had already begun on Exodus, his first album in over nine years.

Following DMX's death, his Instagram account read:

Bath Salts is the first single off the record. It features all three veterans in high old-school hip-hop form, with blaring horns and tongue-twisting lyrics reminiscent of DMX's heyday. It is a final ode to the rapper's legacy, and a worthy one at that. X's verse is as fiery as ever. He will be missed.


Saweetie Ft. Doja Cat - "Best Friend"

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Saweetie continues in the footsteps of powerful female artists who own their sexuality, which her feature partner-in-crime Doja has mastered. Even before releasing her debut album, she has an envious self-assurance.

And Best Friend catches Saweetie with a crystal-clear flow over a beat which would set dance-floors on fire. The music video, which has the duo telepathically sharing feminist banter before the hype verses begin, is a cherry on the cake.


Baby Keem Ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Family Ties"

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Family Ties, named thus because of Keem and Kendrick's relation, and featuring their family portrait as a cover, is the first single off Keem's debut album, The Melodic Blue.

The song features Keem going toe-to-toe with Kendrick, and Kendrick going berserk with oddball bars, which keep switching in interesting ways. It has been nominated for a Rap Performance Grammy as well. Add that to Keem's New Artist nod, and the young rapper could be in for quite a night.


Kanye West Ft. Jay-Z - "Jail"

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Kanye's latest release, Donda, has been fraught with an unusual amount of controversy, even for a Ye album. Amid multiple changes and delays, Kanye featured rapper DaBaby, who has been accused of homophobia, and Marilyn Manson, accused of rape, on a version of this very track.

The Grammy-nominated version, only featuring Jay-Z, doesn't quite deliver either. It has a meandering melody and clumsy lyricism, clearly below the peak and power of the duo. It is far from the best track on the album, let alone the year.


J.Cole Ft. 21 Savage and Morray - "My Life"

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My Life, off J. Cole's album The Off Season, features an interesting dichotomy of styles, with Cole's rapid lyricism and 21 Savage's adlibs playing off perfectly against each other. Morray's chorus, an interpolation of the hook of "The Life" (2002) by American rapper Styles P, is an earworm.

The song is justifiably also nominated for a Best Rap Performance Grammy, but Cole's lyrics, about his means of attaining fame and wealth, are hip-hop staples but still fresh. They elevate his uncannily sharp delivery.


Who do you think will take the Best Rap Song Grammy home?

Note: This article reflects the writer's personal views.

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Edited by R. Elahi