For the past three days, we’ve taken a look at the nominees for this year’s Grammy Awards in the categories Best Rap Song, Best Rap Album and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Now, it’s time to turn the focus on Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, which honors “artists who do not normally perform together.” Even though the artists nominated here usually do perform together, it’s more of a circuitous way of honoring collaborations where an R&B singer features a rapper dropping 16 bars on a track or an emcee giving the R&B singer some shine on the chorus. So without further ado, here’s a look at the nominees for this year’s nominees for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
The Nominees
Ego
Beyoncé & Kanye West
[Music World Music/Columbia]Knock You Down
Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo
Track from: In A Perfect World…
[MMG/Zone 4/Interscope Records]Run This Town
Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West
[Roc Nation]I’m On A Boat
The Lonely Island & T-Pain
Track from: Incredibad
[Universal Republic Records]Dead And Gone
T.I. & Justin Timberlake
Track from: Paper Trail
[Grand Hustle/Atlantic]
Who Should Win
This one’s a toughie. To make it easier on ourselves, we’re going to immediately discount “I’m on a Boat” by Lonely Island featuring T-Pain since it’s a mere novelty track than a credible competitor for the trophy (though, of all the nominees, it definitely is the one track where the collaborating artists usually don’t perform together). Beyonce and Kanye collaborating on “Ego” doesn’t really make sense, since it’s just the original album track with Kanye West thrown into the mix, while T.I. and Justin didn’t put too much originality into their collabo. That leaves “Knock You Down” and “Run This Town” as the frontrunners for the award, and both are worthy contenders.
Who Will Win
Again, this one has some tough competition. Knowing how the Grammy Awards usually go, they award the trophy to the artist that usually wins and has the best reputation, so we’re going to guess that Jay will take home the trophy, not only because it’s Jay-Z, but because it’s Rihanna and Kanye, too. Sure, Kanye guests on two other tracks in the category, but “Run This Town” was the gargantuan single of last year – not to mention that it was one of the biggest sounding records of ’09. If Jay doesn’t win, then this one’s going right to Beyonce. After all, she tends to win every Grammy anyways, right?
Who’s Missing
Since Kid CuDi was nominated for a few other awards this year, we’re wondering why the random collabo track “Pursuit of Happiness” with Ratatat and MGMT wasn’t included. That was one of the craziest collabos all year. Or how about any track from the MSTRKRFT album Fist of God? It featured some of the weirdest collaborations in hip-hop history, including joints with Ghostface Killah, Freeway and Lil’ Mo. But since this is the Grammys we’re talking about here, you know they would have thrown those kind of tracks into the alternative category anyways. Sigh.
