Although the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards officially don’t get underway until 5 p.m. PST/8 p.m. EST on Sunday (March 14), the Recording Academy has already started announcing some of the winners — including Best Rap Album.
According to a tweet fired off Sunday afternoon, Nas took home the honor for King’s Disease, beating out Jay Electronica’s A Written Testimony, Freddie Gibbs and Alchemist’s Alfredo, D Smoke’s Black Habits and Royce Da 5’9’s The Allegory. Despite a legendary career spanning decades, it marked the Queensbridge MC’s first ever Grammy.
King’s Disease arrived last August, serving as the follow-up to 2018’s NASIR and the Illmatic legend’s 13th studio album with appearances from Charlie Wilson, Hit-Boy, Big Sean, Don Toliver, Lil Durk, Anderson .Paak, Brucie B, Nas’s supergroup The Firm, Fivio Foreign and A$AP Ferg.
The project debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with roughly 47,000 total album-equivalent units sold in its first week. Despite the Top 5 debut, only one single from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 — “Spicy” with Fivio and Ferg, which squeezed in at No. 96.
Nas, Royce Da 5'9 & Jay Electronica Among Those Nominated For Best Rap Album Grammy
Last November, Nas sat down with NME for a rare Zoom interview and discussed the concept of the album.
“I wanted to put together a bunch of music that represents Nasir in 2020,” he said at the time. “Me and [rapper and producer] Hit-Boy started working on it before COVID hit, but then the quarantine stopped us and I decided I didn’t wanna release it anymore. But then I got the call from him and he woke me up, telling me that we gotta finish it. So it’s just a piece of work around what I was thinking this year.”
Revisit the album below.
Long overdue
I thought he had a Grammy from writing for Will Smith?
Nas wrote Just Cruisin’ not Getting Jiggy ….common mistake.
Nope. 1 Win, 14 Nominations.
So all the hype over Royce and Gibbs getting nominated was for naught, the random people who voted (who are not rap music connoisseurs) just picked the rapper who’s name they are most familiar with. I mean good for Nas, but the album was trash compared to Alfredo.
Opinions are like ass holes, everybody got one. King’s Disease is a great album.
You’re bugging. Two Great albums nothing more or less
Lol and compare it wit Busta’s shit which wasnt even nominated
Well deserved win for the legend
Nas one of the 5 greatest rapper to ever touch the mic
where is xxxtanction, nipsey, moe3, popSmuf grammies.
support the real bruh
Dafuq outta here with dat trash!!!
Queens and Brooklyn stand up!!! The King of New York! The King of New York! The King of New York has been crowned again! Give Nas is flowers rap fans! Give him his flowers!!!
FINALLY!!! The legend gets some recognition! So happy for this man. He made me a hip-hop head!
Overdue but for the wrong album.
Yeah, Illmatic or Stillmatic maybe but oh well at least he can say he’s got one finally. I mean it’s f***** up that Future can win one for that “Slob on my knob” BS on Jay Rock’s King’s Dead Remix but Nas had to wait 27 years and two 5 mic albums from The Source to get it.
Grammy’s didn’t even have a rap category when Illmatic came out.
100
Nas Nas Nas Nas
Recognizing greatness while he’s still alive!!!! Don’t wait until he’s gone to say he was the best. I appreciate his music!!! Congrats Nas!!! ?
Peace to you King for this lovely comment
Glad Nas won his first ever one, way overdue for a legend like him. Freddie will get his soon.
27 Summers that wasn’t even the goal!
For he’s worst album, wtf man! I hate this fuckin planet!
U said a mouth full
worst album? Have you not heard Nastradamus?
Blue Ivy won a grammy before Medioc-asir at 9 yrs old. LMAO!! It’s the Roc.
U got a Roc for a brain
aaaahhhh you are consistent. i gave you that. still trolling after 10 years. still the loser you were back then. continuning the streak. Nas stole your woman or something. I get it, you got beat up in Queensbridge a long time ago and now you are out for revenge to stain Nas’ name. Those QB boys left you nearly at the inch of your life. it has to be something.oh well. still a loser nevertheless. back to our regularly scheduled programming
Glad for Nas but this album doesn0T deserve an award…and Nas has and always be my guy but even Streets Disciple is more deserving and people hated that album….Gibbs got snubbed hands down….no pun but listen to Royce’s The Allegory or Busta Rhymes ELE2…then play the Grammy winning King’s Disease….smh…last days
yes the album does and i dont know if you are talking about the kind disease if that is what you are talking about and it shows you are loosing it , because you dont know anything
Meh, more like a lifetime achievement. Freddie & Alc had the best album.
Grammys don’t mean much to me. Nas still deserves recognition for Illmatic so here it is almost 30 years later. King’s Disease was only a decent album in my opinion.
Cancer Culture partially to blame for Societal collapse. Keep celebrating everything that’s destroying this once great nation. Oh & before you attack I was born in Kensington. My parents gave me up for adoption. It was perfect recipe for disaster. You know how I not only survived but excelled? I didn’t follow the Cancer culture. I didn’t look up to scumbags & I worked twice as hard as the next man. Moral of the story? Black people have no clue what they are capable of until they walk away from that cancer culture.