Grammy Award for Best Rap Song


The Grammy Award for Best Rap Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rap music genre. 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".
The award was first presented to Eminem along with Jeff Bass and Luis Resto for the song "Lose Yourself" from the soundtrack 8 Mile in 2004. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide, the award honors the songwriter of new songs or songs "first achieving prominence during the period of eligibility". Songs containing prominent samples may be eligible.
Kanye West holds the records for the most wins and nominations in this category, having won six times out of fifteen nominations. Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams, Rihanna, Drake and Kendrick Lamar are the only songwriters to have won the category more than once. Cyhi the Prynce holds the record for most nominations without a win, with six.

Recipients

YearWorkPerforming artistNomineesRef.
2004
2005
2006
2007 featuring Pharrell
2008 featuring T-Pain
2009 featuring Static Major
2010 featuring Rihanna and Kanye West
2011 featuring Alicia Keys
2012"All of the Lights"Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie
2013"Niggas in Paris"Jay-Z and Kanye West
2014"Thrift Shop"Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz
2015"i"Kendrick Lamar
2016"Alright"Kendrick Lamar
2017"Hotline Bling"Drake
2018"Humble"Kendrick Lamar
2019"God's Plan"Drake
2020"A Lot"21 Savage featuring J. Cole

Category records

Most wins
Rank1st2nd3rd
ArtistKanye WestJay-Z
Kendrick Lamar
Drake
Rihanna
Pharrell Williams
Total wins6 Wins3 wins2 wins

Most nominations
Rank1st2nd3rd
ArtistKanye WestJay-ZDrake
Total wins15 nominations11 nominations10 nominations