© 2025 NPR Illinois
The Capital's Community & News Service since 1975
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Learn more about federal funding of public media stations like NPR Illinois at ProtectMyPublicMedia.org #ProtectMyPublicMedia

Do the Grammys have a hip-hop problem?

Lil Nas X performs onstage during the 64th annual Grammy awards on April 03, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Lil Nas X performs onstage during the 64th annual Grammy awards on April 03, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

The 2022 Grammys on Sunday night celebrated the biggest names in the recording industry.

Silk Sonic, the collaboration between Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak had a huge night, winning four Grammys. And Jon Batiste won album of the year for his “We Are.”

Best rap album went to Tyler the Creator for “Call Me If You Get Lost.” But the rapper and producer wasn’t even nominated for album of the year.

Justin Tinsley, a senior culture writer for Andscape, tells host Celeste Headlee that this is no coincidence. He says that the Grammys have a long history of overlooking hip hop and rap when it comes to the biggest award.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.