Grammys CEO weighs in on Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ candidacy
We speculated about the potential of Kendrick Lamar‘s savage diss track “Not Like Us” scoring Grammy nominations or perhaps even wins despite targeting another Grammy winner, Canadian rapper Drake. TMZ recently went to the very top to discuss the possibility, interviewing Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. about the possibility.
“Obviously it’s a hot record,” Mason conceded. “It’s amazing artistry, great writing. The talent on that record is incredible … I don’t see any reason why it couldn’t be [recognized at the Grammys]. It’s all about the quality of the record. It’s really about the members. If the members like it, then it will be nominated.”
Lamar released “Not Like Us” on May 4 during a flurry of diss tracks that were being traded back-and-forth by the two rappers, but “Not Like Us” was clearly the pinnacle of Lamar’s volley of songs. Commercially, there’s no doubt about it. The single debuted at number-one, and as of this writing it’s still in the top six after seven weeks of release.
We’ve asked the question to the savviest music fans on the web, Gold Derby users, who have been making their predictions for Record of the Year and Song of the Year here in our predictions center. Currently it looks like a close call. “Not Like Us” ranks ninth for Record of the Year with 25/1 odds (there will be eight nominees in the category), so it’s right on the cusp. It would be Lamar’s fourth nomination in that category, following “All the Stars” from “Black Panther,” “Humble” and “The Heart Part 5.”
Lamar has also been nominated three previous times for Song of the Year (for “Alright,” “All the Stars” and “Heart Part 5”), but “Not Like Us” hasn’t risen as far in our predictions there. It ranks 16th with 82/1 odds. Ranked ahead of it in 12th place with 44/1 odds is actually a different Lamar diss track against Drake, “Euphoria.”
But it’s a pretty safe bet that, whichever song he submits for academy consideration (if he decides to submit either of them), Lamar will at least be nominated in rap categories. He has already won 17 times in his career, and most of those have been rap awards. Now let’s say theoretically that Lamar runs the board, winning Record and Song of the Year, plus Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Music Video for the visual he recently filmed for “Not Like Us.” Then Drake disses will have tied Drake himself for number of Grammys won. It would be clear then where the recording industry stands in this beef.
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