The Grammys have long taken plenty of guff from rap fans disappointed in the committee’s weird relationship with the genre over snubs, undeserved album wins, and even what gets categorized as rap, but in today’s nominee announcement broadcast, someone in the graphics department made a mistake that may end up costing the show its last shred of hip-hop credibility for a while.
When announcing the nominees for the Best Rap Performance category, the title card on the screen honored Big Sean and Nipsey Hussle for “Deep Reverence,” DaBaby for “Bop,” Lil Baby for “The Bigger Picture,” Megan Thee Stallion and Beyonce for the “Savage” remix, and Pop Smoke for “Dior,” but the final artist in the category didn’t even get credit for his own song, even though it was a massive hit that reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Instead of seeing his name listed under “What’s Poppin,” Jack Harlow saw R&B singer Luke James credited for the rapid-fire hit, despite the fact that James had nothing at all to do with the song.
Look how they did Jack Harlow lmaooo pic.twitter.com/1JyadjRYeg
— Craig Bro Dude (@CraigSJ) November 24, 2020
Naturally, hip-hop heads caught the faux pas immediately and promptly set about roasting the Grammys’ art department for such an obvious whiff.
https://twitter.com/raptalkSK/status/1331291123260723203
https://twitter.com/PreedyDaisy/status/1331296337028116483
https://twitter.com/worrynodream/status/1331290345209016322
Aye, they put What’s Poppin was by Luke James and not Jack Harlow. 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/OXRylaTTJ4
— DJ Heat (@DJHeatDC) November 24, 2020
https://twitter.com/CountBlaccula/status/1331291150502785025
Of course, later posts from the Grammys’ official accounts correct the mistake but by then, it was too late. Screenshots are forever. On the bright side, there are probably a lot of fans looking into Luke James now, as they should — he’s also nominated for Best R&B Album for To Feel Love/d, an overlooked gem from January of this year. See the full list of nominees here.
