Grammy Award for Best Rap Album | |
---|---|
Awarded for | Quality albums with rapping |
Country | United States |
Presented by | National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences |
First awarded | 1996 |
Last awarded | 2016 |
Official website | grammy.com |
The Grammy Award for Best Rap Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums with rapping at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
In 1995, the Academy announced the addition of the award category Best Rap Album. The first award was presented to the group Naughty by Nature at the 38th Grammy Awards the following year. According to the category description guide for the 52nd Grammy Awards, the award is presented for "albums containing at least 51% playing time of tracks with newly recorded rapped performances". Award recipients often include the producers, engineers, and/or mixers associated with the nominated work in addition to the recording artists.
As of 2015, Eminem holds the record for the most wins in this category, with six. Lauryn Hill is currently the only female artist to win in this category, when she won in 1997 with the Fugees. Kanye West was presented the award four times, and the duo known as Outkast received the award twice. Jay-Z holds the record for the most nominations, with nine, which resulted in one win. Canadian artist Drake became the first non-American winner in this category when he won in 2013. The Roots have received the most nominations without a win, with five.