From putting Super Freaky Girl in Pop category to deleted tweet controversy: Nicki Minaj's complicated history with Grammys explored

Nicki Minaj has had a long-standing history with Grammy Awards. The rapper first spoke out against the annual award show in 2020, when she wasn't given the Best New Artist award, which she believed she deserved.

Two years later, Minaj's Super Freaky Girl's nomination category was changed last minute. Despite speaking out about it at length, Nicki couldn't get the representatives of Grammy to respond or change their decision. Most recently, she was mistakenly announced as the winner of a Grammy on social media when in reality she hadn't won it.

Minaj has not been attending the Grammys since 2015, and has yet to break that tradition.

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Nicki Minaj called Grammy out on moving her song from Rap to Pop category in 2022

Nicki Minaj's Super Freaky Girl— which was first nominated in the 'Best Rap Song' category for Grammys— was later moved to the pop category. The Hey Mama rapper was unhappy with this change and spoke about it at length on her Instagram Live, saying:

"The people who control a lot of things behind the scenes, they have to elevate someone that they profit off. So they must move the goalposts for me all the time."

Minaj continued:

"Why is the goalpost only ever moved when it's Nicki? Well, I'll tell you why. They don't the people who they have in the industry to have to go up against me. But why?

Minaj added that if a song was great and worth winning, it should be able to be put together in the same category.

Nicki then pointed out that the change was an attempt to give her a lesser chance to win, stating that when she was put in the pop category with artists like Adele and Harry Styles, the competition would no longer be fair. Ultimately, it gave the rapper a lesser chance of winning, making it all seem unfair.

The Side to Side rapper also referenced Latto's Big Energy in the video, saying:

"If Super Freaky Girl is pop, then so is Big Energy. If you move Super Freaky Girl out of rap and put it in pop, do the same thing with Big Energy. Same producers on both songs, by the way. So let's keep [it] fair."

Feud between Nicki Minaj and Latto over Grammy nominations 2022 (Screenshots via X/@NICKIMINAJ @Latto)

Nicki Minaj's comment about Latto's Big Energy's category remaining unchanged sparked a feud between the rappers on X (formerly Twitter).

The word war got heated as Latto called Minaj a "40-year-old bully" and "idol-turned-rival." The Starships rapper shot back at Latto, claiming what she was upset about were the two features she had sent Minaj in the past but were ultimately declined by her.

In the end, neither rapper won the Grammys for any category that year.

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Grammy deleted a tweet after mis-announcing Nicki Minaj as the winner of Best Rap Song in 2024

The 66th Annual Grammy Awards was hosted on February 5, 2024. Before the televised show was aired on Sunday, the winners from the event were posted on social media platforms. One such post, posted by mistake, involved Nicki Minaj and was deleted immediately.

The X (formerly Twitter) post announced that Minaj's Barbie World featuring Ice Spice won the Grammy for Best Rap Song. Those who had attended the award show live knew this to be incorrect, since the real winner of the award was Killer Mike's Scientists & Engineers.

Despite being deleted almost instantly, the X post created an uproar on the platform, particularly among the Barbz, who were excited about Minaj's first Grammy win. Screenshots of the deleted post were circulated on X, with fans speculating if it was proof of the industry plotting against Nicki.

Nicki Minaj's Barbie World was nominated for two categories in this year's Grammy— Best Rap Song and Best Song Written for Visual Media. However, it won neither.

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Regardless of whether or not Minaj is nominated for the Grammys, the rapper was absent from this year's Grammy as well.