Hip-hop culture has once again proven its profound impact at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday.
Hip-hop had some truly progressive moments at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday. Kendrick Lamar, now officially a multi-generational hip-hop phenomenon, dominated every category he entered. A hip-hop pioneer received some extremely deserving honors, and the new covergirl of the modern female rap game has officially claimed the throne.
Kendrick Lamar Dominated the 2025 Grammys
Kendrick Lamar, at the helm of hip-hop, contended and won dominantly in each category he entered, thanks to his era-defining smash hit “Not Like Us.” These included Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, and Best Music Video. The success of “Not Like Us” is almost immediately detectable once it reaches the cerebral reward system of a listener. A fission occurs, sending a message of resonance that is universally understood, amplified by its entrancing chorus and groovy beat.
A product of one of the greatest rap bouts over the past decade, which amplified its overall performance due to the grand interest that comes with rap feuds among the genre’s present big shots— in this case, between Lamar and Drake— “Not Like Us” broke a plethora of records, including generating over 94 million streams in its first week and becoming the swiftest rap song to hit one billion streams in less than four weeks on Spotify. The track topped the Billboard 100 upon its debut, becoming the Compton rapper’s first solo dominance on the chart.
Beyond making quantitative victories, the song sparked a cultural revolution among the global Black populace. Ultimately, the song is symbolic of pledging allegiance to one’s Black pride, particularly in the world of hip-hop, but also in the context of being a practitioner of hip-hop’s rap element. It was nationally a yelp for a return to purity among hip-hop practitioners, with lines, “No, you not a colleague, you a fuckin’ colonizer.” The Grammy dominance was nearly a given, combined with its industry-shifting impact, cultural relevance, and historical events, including the communally uniting free concert at The Los Angeles Forum, the filming of the music video, and being slated as the headliner for Super Bowl LIX.
Women in Hip-Hop Keep Claiming Their Ground
Now officially a Grammy winner, this is not Rapsody’s first rodeo in the Grammy run. Her second solo album, 2017’s Laila’s Wisdom, earned the North Carolina native her first Grammy nod under Best Rap Album and Best Rap Song for “Sassy” at the 2018 Grammys. Seven years later, not only did Rapsody get back on the ballot, but she finally snagged her first Grammy under a supremely fitting category, “Best Melodic Rap Performance,” for her harmonious duet with Erykah Badu, “3:AM.” The song is featured on her latest album, Please Don’t Cry, an album that represents her evolution as an artist and tenured lyricist.
I got the chance to chat with Rapsody last year about the coming of Please Don’t Cry, and the rapper disclosed the creative process behind the song, stating she actually developed three verses for it without a hook. When she envisioned the voice for the hook, it was none other than Erykah Badu—a thought that ultimately birthed an opportunity to work with the neo-soul icon, who is a seasoned associate and practitioner of hip-hop music.
“I did the three verses and I left the hook open. I knew I always wanted more singers and rappers. Badu just felt right,” said Rapsody. “I just sit and I listen and I’m like, whose voice do I hear? That’s how I approach everything. Whose voice do I hear? I hear Badu. I hope she says yes, but that’s who I hear.”
Rapsody is the third female rapper to win Best Melodic Rap Performance, following Lauryn Hill, who won the award in 1999 for “Doo Wop (That Thing),” and Doja Cat, who arguably won it in 2022 for “Kiss Me More.”
It is fair to challenge the perspective that the female rap game’s new covergirl is Doechii. The Florida native is the prime example of a victorious people’s champ, as her uncompromising artistry has set ablaze her current prime-time era. Her third album effort, Alligator Bites Never Heal, won Best Rap Album, where she was up against some seasoned contenders, including J. Cole, Future, Metro Boomin, veteran Eminem, and hip-hop icons Common and Pete Rock. A win of this caliber is both impressive and honorable. According to the Recording Academy, the award is granted to “albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new rap recordings.”
Doechii is an unconventional modern rap artist, with an unforced demeanor that regresses from the standardized framework of a female rap artist due to her unapologetic groundedness and cutthroat lyricism, grandly reflective of the mind of the carefree young Black woman. Her 2024 singles “Nissan Altima” and “Catfish” are arguably the multi-talent’s breakout hits, popularizing her distinct sound and daring style. Doechii is the third female rapper to win Best Rap Album, following Lauryn Hill, who became the first female rap artist to win the award in 1999, and Megan Thee Stallion, who won it in 2021.
A Hip-Hop Pioneer Gets Their Flowers
One of hip-hop culture’s most defining figures, Roxanne Shanté, received a Lifetime Achievement Award during the Special Merit Awards from the Recording Academy, an overdue and well-deserved honor. Shanté’s history was made in the mid-1980s, before the Recording Academy had even uttered an iota of interest in the hip-hop sound, a genre still developing its commercial structure as enthusiastic practitioners went about their business.
Shanté was a reigning local battle rapping sensation in New York City, particularly in the Queensbridge Projects, when she responded to UTFO’s “Roxanne, Roxanne” with “Roxanne’s Revenge,” a verbal bout that centered around an unsuccessful attempt at romance. This response sparked a plethora of reactions from Shanté’s contemporaries, including pioneering female emcee Sparky D and, famously, The Real Roxanne, an effort backed by UTFO themselves. The verbal war is recognized as one of the earliest rap feuds in history, contributing not only to the legitimization of the hip-hop genre but also solidifying the position of women in rap. Shanté is the second female rapper to receive the prestigious honor, following Salt-N-Pepa, who became the first female rap collective to receive the award in 2021.
The state of hip-hop and its winners of the 2025 Grammys is a testament to the gradual popularity of the mainstream world’s understanding of hip-hop’s purity. Hip-hop culture is among the youngest music genres, and the phase of the packaged, commercialized rapper is making a crack in its steady decline in relevance. Instead, the undeniable call and response from its consumers are beginning to take heed.
Real rap won this year.