MINAJ'S "SUPER FREAKY GIRL" GOES POP

Nicki Minaj's #1 single "Super Freaky Girl" (Republic)—which has spent the last eight weeks atop the Hot Rap Songs chart—has been kicked out of the Grammy's Best Rap Song category and will now compete for Best Pop Solo Performance, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Although the song was originally submitted to the rap categories in August, the Recording Academy's rap committee opted to overturn the decision and move it to pop.

Minaj has earned 10 Grammy nominations over the course of her career but has only competed in pop once in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the 2014 single “Bang Bang” with Ariana Grande and Jessie J. The other nine nominations have been in rap and includes Best Rap Album for Pink Friday and The Pinkprint, Best Rap Song for “Anaconda” and Best Rap performance for “Moment 4 Life” and “Truffle Butter.”

Lizzo faced a similar situation in 2019 when "Truth Hurts" spent 13 weeks on the rap charts but competed for Best Pop Solo Performance the following year.

"Super Freaky Girl" arrived in August and ended its first week at #1 with the biggest consumption week for a solo female debut in 2022. It also scored the biggest sales week of any single this year and yielded multiple versions, including a remix with Madonna. Somewhere, Rick James is smiling.