Elliott Wilson has unloaded on Tommy Richman for vying for Hip Hop silverware at the Grammys despite distancing himself from the genre.
During the latest episode of The Bigger Picture, the veteran journalist reacted to the news that Richman’s breakout hit “Million Dollar Baby” has been submitted for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance at the 2025 Grammy Awards, shortly after he controversially declared that he is “not a Hip Hop artist.”
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Wilson began by taking issue with the Brent Faiyaz signee declining his request for an interview earlier this year, only to sit down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe — a move he says illustrates his “inconsistent” attitude towards the very culture that catapulted his career.
“I went hard for an interview out the gate. When ‘Million Dollar Baby’ blew up, I sent him a nice note congratulating him,” he said. “So I’m building a rapport with him and then he gets cold feet. I hear he doesn’t like to do interviews, he’s a little nervous about it, blah blah.”
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Wilson revealed that Richman recently U-turned on his stance and sent him a text message saying: “Would love to have a conversation at some point, man.”
“And then it’s the classic thing: now, all of a sudden, you want to pop up and have a conversation,” Wilson continued his rant. “He’s like, ‘I wasn’t doing any sitdown stuff for a while.’ I said, ‘You chose Zane.’ He said, ‘Huh? What I do?’
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“Yo, you went to Zane Lowe! And that’s fine, I get it. He’s Apple Music. Get your spins. You gotta do that, it’s part of the gig, you want to keep cool with these DSPs.
“So you playing this game where the only interview went to Zane Lowe and you’re number one on the Hip Hop and R&B charts, but you don’t want to claim Hip Hop. And now he submitted his records for the Grammys Hip Hop categories.”
The former XXL editor-in-chief also criticized Tommy Richman’s decision to leave “Million Dollar Baby,” as well his follow-up hit “Devil is a Lie,” off of his debut album Coyote, which failed to crack the Billboard 200 chart.
“He took this bold stance of not putting the records on his album and it didn’t work. The sales weren’t great because you didn’t put your slaps on the album,” he said, referencing Coyote‘s reported 3,400 first-week units.
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“The album should’ve started with fucking ‘Million Dollar Baby’ and ‘Devil is a Lie’ as muthafucking track two — that’s how I have it on my playlist. There are eight other songs that I like on the album. I made my own version of Coyote but they ain’t slaps like the other first two songs.”
“And then you’re gonna succumb to the pressure when it’s time to get your ‘recognition.’ And the Hip Hop award goes to… a n-gga that don’t wanna be Hip Hop,” he continued. “It’s like, ‘What are we doing? That makes no sense.’
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“Everybody wants to be genre-less. We all want world peace; that’s not our muthafucking reality. Fuck your genre-less ass. It sounds good in theory: ‘I’m non-genre.’ Fuck outta here! You’re Hip Hop!”
Wilson even shot down the prospect of interviewing Tommy Richman in the future and questioned his sudden interest in them sitting down.
“I don’t think he’s ready to for an interview with me,” he declared. “Clearly there’s all this controversy that I don’t think he’s ready to address. His actions are inconsistent.”
He added: “Don’t slow dance me like I don’t know what’s going on. I feel like then I’m being used. Who’s more credible in Hip Hop than me? So now you want to have a sitdown with me and come off looking good because everybody’s kicking your back in because your actions are inconsistent.
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“I’m not comfortable yet ’cause I don’t really know where he’s going with it and I don’t think the next album is going to be Hip Hop at all, and that’s fine. But own your shit!”
The controversy surrounding Tommy Richman began earlier this month when he wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “I’m not a hip hop artist.”
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His post led to a back-and-forth with fellow Bigger Picture co-host DJ Hed, who replied: “Glad I got the PSA before I did my radio mix. I now have 2 open slots. What should I play? (From an artist proud to be Hip-Hop).”
Ricman responded by clarifying his original comment: “I’ll say again, Im thankful for everything. I’m saying I don’t wanna be boxed in. I grew up on hip hop. But I’m a singer.”
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He added: “I meant to say I’m not SOLEY a hip hop artist.”
The backlash may well intensify come November 8 when the Recording Academy unveils the nominations for next year’s Grammys. Even if “Million Dollar Baby” were to get the nod in a rap category, though, it would likely be swept aside by one of Kendrick Lamar‘s dominant Drake diss tracks (takeyourpick).
The Bigger Picture is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Additional reporting by Andy Bustard.
