Rick Ross is never afraid to address the elephant in the room, and the Best Rap Album was his target of choice on Saturday. Last year, the category produced one of the most controversial winners in Grammy history (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis over Kendrick Lamar) and figured to double-up with another iffy choice (Iggy Azalea) during the nationally televised awards show.
Eminem ended up winning for The Marshall Mathers LP 2, but that was well after Ross voiced his opinion.
"The rap community doesn't feel like the rap Grammy is in touch," Ross told Billboard. "Not at all. This is music that powers from the streets up... If anything, in the rap categories, that's what should most definitely get recognized. Going to the root of it and not just certain artists, the Iggy Azaleas. I want to congratulate her on all her success, but that doesn't represent the community at large."
"I respect the Grammys, being a writer. But me being an artist representing hip hop? No."
Those comments came before BMI's "How I Wrote That Song" panel on Saturday. Producer and artist Fresh also sounded off on the award.
"What it means is: If you get a Grammy, people kind of downplay you," he said. "Not (like you) really sold out, but it means your music is kind of watered down. And I've been nominated for Grammys. And believe me, if I would have won, I would have took it!"
Fresh also said that a victory can hurt local connections down the road.
"If you get a Grammy, people kind of think you're out of reach, so it kind of hurts you in a way," Fresh said. "It's like, oh now he has a Grammy, he won't be coming back to this (small venue) again."
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 was Eminem's sixth win in the category. The winner has never peaked lower than No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and the last time a winner was not No. 1 or No. 2 was Naughty By Nature's Poverty's Paradise, which was the first-ever winner in the category.
