Exactly 15 years after the Grammy Awards handed out their first trophy in a rap category, the genre and the appeal for it had grown exponentially. By the 2000s, hip-hop was the dominant global culture, with rappers garnering awards and their music showing up in TV shows, ads, movies, and more.
Here below, we wanted to highlight three rappers who took home important accolades in 2004, 15 years after the first rap Grammy was given to Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff in 1989 for “Parents Just Don’t Understand“. Indeed, these are three rap Grammy Award-winners from 2004 we still stan.
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Eminem
While Eminem entered our lives in a mainstream way in 1999, it was about five years later, in 2004, when he proved to the world he was perhaps its greatest entertainer. Not only was Eminem writing award-winning songs left and right, but around that time, he starred in the popular movie 8 Mile and contributed a number of songs to its soundtrack. The most famous track from that was “Lose Yourself”, which took home the Grammy Awards in 2004 for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song. Indeed, what couldn’t the Detroit artist do?
Beyoncรฉ & Jay-Z
While Eminem was at the height of the world around 2004, so too were the hottest couple on the planet, Jay-Z and Beyoncรฉ. Together, they had it all. Glamor, fame, fortune, and artistic prowess. For evidence of all this, look no further than the single, “Crazy In Love”, which showed their talent and sex appeal front and center. The song also won the couple a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, only adding to the couple’s trophy case. Indeed, their duets are some of the most cherished songs from the era (see also: “’03 Bonnie & Clyde”).
OutKast
At the 2004 show, OutKast transcended their genre and won the coveted Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The trophy came for the double-LP from the duo, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which included the all-time track, “Hey Ya!” OutKast has done so much for hip-hop and for music, in general, that it was great to see in real-time the world of music give back to the artists. The duo also took home Best Rap Album on the night.
Photo by Frans Schellekens/Redferns
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