GRAMMYS 2023: Salt-N-Pepa, RUN-DMC, Public Enemy & More Celebrate Hip Hop, Will Smith Backed Out + Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled & More Perform ‘God Did’

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The 2023 Grammys marked Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary in a fitting manner, gathering both trailblazers and rap newbies on one stage. Will Smith was slated to perform, but he backed out. Deets on why he decided to skip the performance, plus see an epic performance by Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled, and more inside…

 

 

Hip Hop received its flowers during the biggest night in music.

The 65th Grammy Awards featured a massive performance honoring 50 years of Hip Hop where dozens of icons from different generations took the stage.

The tribute segment, hosted by LL Cool J and accompanied by The Roots, with Questlove as musical director and Black Thought as narrator, brought together some of the genre’s most groundbreaking artists, including the freshly nominated GloRilla, Grammy legend Lil Wayne, and the first recipient of a hip-hop Grammy, DJ Jazzy Jeff.

The tribute, which lasted nearly 10 minutes, included tons of performances with homages to Queen Latifah’s 1993 hit “U.N.I.T.Y.,” Salt-N-Pepa and Spinderella’s 1988 classic “My Mike Sounds Nice,” Nelly’s 2002 hit “Hot in Herre,” and Busta Rhymes and Spliff Star flawlessly reciting the lyrics to Chris Brown’s 2011 hit “Look at Me Now.”  Peep the clip below:

Whew!

In addition to Missy Elliott’s “1,2, Step” dance break, the star-studded performance paid tribute to several classic songs, including LL’s “Rock the Bells,” Busta’s “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See,” and Outkast’s “ATliens.”

Big Boi, De La Soul, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Mele Mel & Scorpio/Ethiopian King, DJ Drama, Future, Ice-T, Lil Baby, GloRilla, Rahiem, Rakim, The Lox, Method Man, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, RUN-DMC, Too $hort, Scarface, and Swizz Beatz completed the stage’s lineup of performers.

The epic performance ended with Lil Uzi Vert hitting the stage to perform his viral “Just Wanna Rock” hit. And, of course, he hit those TikTok dance moves.

Jay-Z was having a blast in the audience during the tribute:

 

Get into the Hip Hop tribute below:

Didn’t see your fave? No worries. LL Cool J said there will be another iconic performance where more Hip Hop entertainers will hit the stage together to honor the genre. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

Prior to the tribute, Dr. Dre was presented with the first-ever Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. In his acceptance speech, he candidly reflected on his impact on the genre, as well as the impact the genre has had on him. Watch his speech below:

The epic 2023 Grammys hip-hop tribute was supposed to feature a performance by rapper-turned-actor Will Smith, but he cancelled. As you know, Will caused an uproar in the media after he walked on stage and slapped comedian Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscar Awards for telling a joke about his wife’s bald head.

”I’ll give the spoiler alert away,” Questlove told Variety. “Will Smith was a part of the festivities tonight, but they started shooting Bad Boys 4 this week. There were a lot of preliminary shots that he had to do, so we had to lose Will.”

Watch the clip below:

 

 

Interesting.

To close the awards show…

 

In a star-studded performance, DJ Khaled joined his “GOD DID” collaborators Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend, and Fridayy to bring Music’s Biggest Night to a close. Hov performed his nearly five-minute verse, ending the set on a high note.

“They didn’t want us to win! So I made sure I was on the GRAMMYs stage with the biggest! This is for Hip Hop!” Khaled shouted in between verses. “We did an 8-minute song on the Grammys!”

”GOD DID” received three nominations, including Song Of The Year, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap Performance. Khaled’s album, GOD DID, was one of the contenders for Best Rap Album (which Kendrick Lamar won for Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers).

Watch some of their performance below:

BONUS:

Watch Hov give rap legend Rakim his flowers backstage at the Grammys:

 

 

Love to see it.

 

Hip Hop journalist Elliott Wilson has an interview featuring Jay-Z and DJ Khaled is coming down the pipeline.

Can’t wait.

Photos: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

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