Hip Hop did!
It was a historic and record-breaking event at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday (Feb. 5). Some of the evening’s most memorable moments were Beyonce making history with the most Grammy wins of any artist, Dr. Dre accepting this year’s Global Impact Award, Hip Hop celebrated their 50th anniversary with an epic performance.
Beyonce entered the show with the most-nominations and four wins for the night. Bey won “Best Dance/Electronic Recording” for “Break My Soul”, Best R&B Song for “Cuff It” and Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Plastic On The Sofa”. Her album Renaissance earned her “Best Dance/Electronic Music Album” and became the most awarded artist in Grammy history with a total of 32 overall.
Kendrick Lamar won Best Rap Album for Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers while his song “The Heart 5” earned him wins in both Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song. Elsewhere, Future took Best Melodic Rap Performance for his song “Wait For U” featuring Drake and Tems, Robert Glasper won Best R&B Album with his Black Radio III, and Steve Lacy won Best Progressive R&B Album for Gemini Nights. Muni Long took Best R&B Performance for “Hrs & Hrs”, and Lizzo won one of the evening’s most prestigious awards, Record Of The Year for her hit “About Damn Time”. During the ceremony, LL Cool J presented Dr. Dre. with the Grammy’s Global Impact Award.
Hip Hop celebrated the genre’s 50th anniversary by taking viewers through the years with a 10-minute performance. Featuring The Roots band, acts included Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Rakim, Public Enemy, Salt N Pepa, Wu-Tang’s Method Man, Queen Latifah, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi, The Lox, Too $hort, Missy Elliott, Lil Baby, GloRilla, and many more.
Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, and Chris Stapleton performed a Motown medley in honor of Barry Gordy and Smokey Robinson, Mary J. Blige gave a stunning performance of “Good Morning Gorgeous” and Lizzo brought the energy with “Time” and “Special”. Steve Lacy brought his “Bad Habit” hit with Thundercat, and Quavo gave an emotional performance dedicated Takeoff during the ceremony’s memoriam segment. DJ Khaled closed out the ceremony with his first live performance of “God Did” starring John Legend, Fridayy, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, and JAY-Z.
JAY-Z spoke with TIDAL and Rap Radar’s Elliott Wilson on the Grammy performance, Beyonce, and much more. Read in interview in full here.
“God Did” live at the 65th Grammy Awards performed by @DJKhaled, JAY-Z (@sc), @JohnLegend, @LilTunechi, @RickRoss, and @Fridayy. #Grammys pic.twitter.com/gmAOZcW5T4
— Roc Nation (@RocNation) February 6, 2023