The Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance (awarded as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration until 2017, and Best Rap/Sung Performance from 2018 to 2020) is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs on which have both rapped and sung vocals. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
| Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance | |
|---|---|
"Luther" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA is the most recent recipient | |
| Awarded for | Quality songs featuring both rapped and sung vocals |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |
| First award | 2002 |
| Currently held by | Kendrick Lamar and SZA, "Luther" (2026) |
| Most wins | Jay-Z (7 wins) |
| Most nominations | Kanye West (15 nominations) |
| Website | grammy.com |
The name and definition of the category were changed in June 2020, with immediate effect, to represent the inclusivity of the growing hybrid performance trends within the rap genre. According to the Recording Academy, "This category is intended to recognize solo and collaborative performances containing elements of rap and melody over modern production. This performance requires a strong and clear presence of melody combined with rap cadence, and is inclusive of dialects, lyrics or performance elements from non-rap genres including R&B, rock, country, electronic or more. The production may include traditional elements of rap or elements characteristic of the aforementioned non-rap genres."
The award goes to the artist(s). The producer, engineer and songwriter can apply for a Winners Certificate.
American rapper Eve and American singer Gwen Stefani won the first award in 2002 with "Let Me Blow Ya Mind". The pair were also nominated a second time in 2006 for "Rich Girl". American rapper Jay-Z has received seven Grammys in the category— four times as lead artist and three times as featured artist; he has also been nominated for three other songs. Rihanna is the female artist with the most wins in the category, with five wins out of nine total nominations.
Recipients
| Year[I] | Performing artist(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Eve featuring Gwen Stefani | "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" |
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| 2003 | Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland | "Dilemma" |
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| 2004 | Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z | "Crazy in Love" |
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| 2005 | Usher featuring Ludacris and Lil Jon | "Yeah!" |
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| 2006 | Linkin Park and Jay-Z | "Numb/Encore" |
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| 2007 | Justin Timberlake featuring T.I. | "My Love" |
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| 2008 | Rihanna featuring Jay-Z | "Umbrella" |
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| 2009 | Estelle featuring Kanye West | "American Boy" |
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| 2010 | Jay-Z featuring Rihanna and Kanye West | "Run This Town" |
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| 2011 | Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys | "Empire State of Mind" |
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| 2012 | Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie | "All of the Lights" |
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| 2013 | Jay-Z, Kanye West, Frank Ocean and The-Dream | "No Church in the Wild" |
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| 2014 | Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake | "Holy Grail" |
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| 2015 | Eminem featuring Rihanna | "The Monster" |
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| 2016 | Kendrick Lamar featuring Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat | "These Walls" |
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| 2017 | Drake | "Hotline Bling" |
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| 2018 | Kendrick Lamar featuring Rihanna | "Loyalty" |
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| 2019 | Childish Gambino | "This Is America" |
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| 2020 | DJ Khaled featuring Nipsey Hussle and John Legend | "Higher" |
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| 2021 | Anderson .Paak | "Lockdown" |
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| 2022 | Kanye West featuring The Weeknd and Lil Baby | "Hurricane" |
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| 2023 | Future featuring Drake and Tems | "Wait for U" |
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| 2024 | Lil Durk featuring J. Cole | "All My Life" |
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| 2025 | Rapsody featuring Erykah Badu | "3:AM" |
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| 2026 | Kendrick Lamar and SZA | "Luther" |
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^[I] Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.
Artists with multiple wins
- 7 wins
- Jay-Z
- 5 wins
- Rihanna
- Kanye West
- 3 wins
- Kendrick Lamar
- 2 wins
- Justin Timberlake
- Drake
Artists with multiple nominations
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See also
wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance, What is Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance? What does Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance mean?