Grammy Award for Best Rap Album

Grammy Award for Best Rap Album
Awarded for	quality albums with rapping
Country	United States
Presented by	National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded	1996
Last awarded	2016
Official website	grammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards.^[1] 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".^[2]

In 1995, the Academy announced the addition of the award category Best Rap Album.^[3] The first award was presented to the group Naughty by Nature at the 38th Grammy Awards the following year. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented for "albums containing at least 51% playing time of tracks with newly recorded rapped performances".^[4] Award recipients often include the producers, engineers, and/or mixers associated with the nominated work in addition to the recording artists.^[5]

As of 2015, Eminem holds the record for the most wins in this category, with six. Lauryn Hill is currently the only female artist to win in this category, when she won in 1997 with the Fugees. Kanye West was presented the award four times, and the duo known as Outkast received the award twice. Jay-Z holds the record for the most nominations, with nine, which resulted in one win. Canadian artist Drake became the first non-American winner in this category when he won in 2013. The Roots have received the most nominations without a win, with five.

Recipients

1998 winner Sean Combs (credited as Puff Daddy), performing in 2006

Six-time award winner Eminem, performing in 2009

Four-time award winner Kanye West

2007 award winner, Ludacris

2009 award winner, Lil Wayne

2013 award winner, Drake

2016 award winner, Kendrick Lamar

Year^[I]	Recipients	Work	Nominees	Ref.
1996	Naughty by Nature	Poverty's Paradise	2Pac – Me Against the World Bone Thugs-n-Harmony – E 1999 Eternal Ol' Dirty Bastard – Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version Skee-Lo – I Wish	[6]
1997	Fugees  · Fugees, producers	The Score	2Pac – All Eyez On Me A Tribe Called Quest – Beats, Rhymes and Life Coolio – Gangsta's Paradise LL Cool J – Mr. Smith	[7]
1998	Puff Daddy and the Family  · Puff Daddy And The Family & Stevie J. producers	No Way Out	Missy Elliott – Supa Dupa Fly Wyclef Jean – Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival The Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death Wu-Tang Clan – Wu-Tang Forever	[8]
1999	Jay-Z  · Joe Quinde, engineer/mixer	Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life	A Tribe Called Quest – The Love Movement Big Punisher – Capital Punishment Jermaine Dupri – Life in 1472 Mase – Harlem World	[9]
2000	Eminem  · Eminem, Jeff Bass & Marky Bass, producers  · Mr. B, engineer/mixer	The Slim Shady LP	Busta Rhymes – E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front Missy Elliott – Da Real World Nas – I Am… The Roots – Things Fall Apart	[10]
2001	Eminem  · Dr. Dre & Richard Huredia, engineers/mixers	The Marshall Mathers LP	DMX – ...And Then There Was X Dr. Dre – 2001 Jay-Z – Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter Nelly – Country Grammar	[11]
2002	Outkast  · David Sheats, producer  · John Frye, engineer	Stankonia	Eve – Scorpion Ja Rule – Pain Is Love Jay-Z – The Blueprint Ludacris – Back for the First Time	[12]
2003	Eminem  · Steve King, engineer/mixer	The Eminem Show	Ludacris – Word of Mouf Mystikal – Tarantula Nelly – Nellyville Petey Pablo – Diary of a Sinner: 1st Entry	[13]
2004	Outkast  · John Frye, engineer/mixer	Speakerboxxx/The Love Below	50 Cent – Get Rich or Die Tryin' Missy Elliott – Under Construction Jay-Z – The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse The Roots – Phrenology	[14]
2005	West, KanyeKanye West  · Manny Marroquin, engineer/mixer	The College Dropout	Beastie Boys – To the 5 Boroughs Jay-Z – The Black Album LL Cool J – The DEFinition Nelly – Suit	[15]
2006	West, KanyeKanye West  · Jon Brion, producer  · Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Tom Biller, engineers  · Mike Dean, engineer/mixer	Late Registration	50 Cent – The Massacre Common – Be Missy Elliott – The Cookbook Eminem – Encore	[16]
2007	Ludacris  · Joshua Monroy & Phil Tan, engineers/mixers	Release Therapy	Lupe Fiasco – Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor Pharrell – In My Mind The Roots – Game Theory T.I. – King	[17]
2008	West, KanyeKanye West  · Kanye West, producer  · Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean, engineers	Graduation	Common – Finding Forever Jay-Z – Kingdom Come Nas – Hip-Hop Is Dead T.I. – T.I. vs. T.I.P.	[18]
2009	Lil Wayne  · Darius "Deezle" Harrison & Fabian Marasciullo, engineers	Tha Carter III	Jay-Z – American Gangster Lupe Fiasco – Lupe Fiasco's The Cool Nas – Untitled T.I. – Paper Trail	[19]
2010	Eminem  · Andre Young, producer  · Andre Young, Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri & Michael Strange, engineers/mixers	Relapse	Common – Universal Mind Control Flo Rida – R.O.O.T.S. Mos Def – The Ecstatic Q-Tip – The Renaissance	[20]
2011	Eminem  · Eminem & Mike Strange, engineers/mixers	Recovery	B.o.B – B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray Drake – Thank Me Later Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3 The Roots – How I Got Over	[21]
2012	West, KanyeKanye West  · Kanye West, producer  · Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer, Mike Dean & Noah Goldstein, engineers/mixers	My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy	Lupe Fiasco – Lasers Jay-Z and Kanye West – Watch the Throne Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV
2013	Drake  · Noah "40" Shebib, producer  · Noel "Gadget" Campbell & Noah "40" Shebib, engineers/mixers	Take Care	2 Chainz – Based on a T.R.U. Story Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 Nas – Life Is Good Rick Ross – God Forgives, I Don't The Roots – Undun
2014	Macklemore & Ryan Lewis  · Ben Haggerty & Ryan Lewis, engineers/mixers	The Heist	Drake – Nothing Was the Same Jay Z – Magna Carta Holy Grail Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid, M.A.A.D City Kanye West – Yeezus
2015	Eminem  · Tony Campana, Joe Strange & Mike Strange, engineers/mixers	The Marshall Mathers LP 2	Iggy Azalea – The New Classic Common – Nobody's Smiling Childish Gambino – Because the Internet Wiz Khalifa – Blacc Hollywood ScHoolboy Q – Oxymoron
2016	Kendrick Lamar  · Derek "Mixedbyali" Ali & James "The White Black Man" Hunt, engineers/mixers	To Pimp a Butterfly	J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive Dr. Dre – Compton Drake – If You're Reading This It's Too Late Nicki Minaj – The Pinkprint	[22] [23]

^{^[I]} Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

See also

• Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance
• Grammy Award for Best Rap Song
• Hip hop music

References

General

• "Past Winners Search". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved March 4, 2011. Note: User must select the "Rap" category as the genre under the search feature.
• "Grammy Awards: Best Rap Album". Rock on the Net. Retrieved July 30, 2010.

Specific

1. "Grammy Awards at a Glance". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
2. "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved April 29, 2010.
3. Lambropoulos, Dinos (May 25, 1995). "Grammy Awards will stay in Los Angeles". The Daily Gazette. Schenectady, New York. p. C6. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
4. "52nd OEP Category Description Guide" (PDF). National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. p. 3. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
5. "Grammy Award Winners". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved February 16, 2011. Note: User must select the "Rap" category as the genre under the search feature.
6. Strauss, Neil (January 5, 1996). "New Faces in Grammy Nominations". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
7. "The Complete List of Nominees". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. January 8, 1997. p. 4. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
8. Strauss, Neil (January 7, 1998). "Grammy Nominations Yield Surprises, Including Newcomer's Success". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. 2. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
9. "Lauryn Hill, Shania Twain, and Sheryl Crow win the most nods". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. January 5, 1999.
10. "42nd Annual Grammy Awards nominations". CNN. January 4, 2000. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
11. "43rd Grammy Awards". CNN. February 21, 2001. Retrieved August 6, 2010.
12. Basham, David (January 17, 2002). "Got Charts? Outkast's Grammy Outlook; Linkin Park Go For Gold". MTV. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
13. "Grammy nominees and winners". CNN. February 24, 2003. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
14. Susman, Gary (December 4, 2003). "Grammylicious". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
15. "Grammy Award nominees in top categories". USA Today. Gannett Company. February 7, 2005. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
16. "The Complete List of Grammy Nominations". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. December 8, 2005. p. 2. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
17. "The 2007 Grammys: Winners and Nominees". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. January 29, 2007. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
18. Kot, Greg (December 6, 2007). "Kanye West, Amy Winehouse lead Grammy nominations". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Company. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
19. Stout, Gene (February 6, 2009). "Grammys Awards: Who will perform, who will win, who should win". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
20. "Grammy countdown: Is Eminem's 'Relapse' a lock for best rap album?". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. January 19, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
21. "53rd Annual Grammy Awards nominees list". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
22. "Grammy Nominations 2016: See the Full List of Nominees". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
23. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/grammy/2016spring/?sf24717227=1#/28

External links

• Official site of the Grammy Awards