It is the second week in January and we are well and truly into the awards season. At M-Lifestyle, we are turning our attentions to the 2016 Grammy Awards ceremony which will be held on Monday February 15 2016 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony will recognize the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year, from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015.

Over the next few weeks,  M-Lifestyle is going to be reviewing some of the most interesting, exciting and hotly debated categories. We are kicking off with the ‘Best Rap Performance’ category. Rap literally means ‘Rhythm and Poetry’ and the best performance must be one that is most audibly engaging and lyrically iconic, one that connects the artist to the audience and is lyrically superior.

Here are the nominees;

Apparently – J. Cole

Track from: 2014 Forest Hills Drive
[Roc Nation/Columbia Records]
     J. Cole, also known as Jermaine Cole originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina has been a well known artist for his truth and honesty in his music. His album “2014 Forest Hills Drive” sold 1 million + copies at the end of 2015 and had no features with tracks like “No Role Modelz” “Wet Dreamz” and “G.O.M.D”. The album got a lot of response from listeners and I feel like his music is world wide being acceptable very well even when he performs on stage which is why I feel it should be the best rap performance winner.

Back To Back – Drake

 [Cash Money Records]

        Drake, also known as Aubrey Graham, young native from Toronto Canada has blossomed into one of the most favorable artists of the generation. After his album drop “If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late” and did amazing in sales. His fan based has increased drastically. Although he is becoming a music icon for the new generation, his diss track to fellow artist Meek Mill “Back To Back” wouldn’t be considered “performance” worthy although it is a great track with a lot of references.

Trap Queen – Fetty Wap

Track From : Fetty Wap

[300 Entertainment/RGF Productions]
        Fetty Wap, a new upcoming artist who rose to prominence with his hit single “Trap Queen” and also tracks like “My Way”. The New Jersey native has become one of the most listened to artist. He recorded the song in February 2014, but it did not start to gain recognition until mid-November 2014, and since then it has become a platinum record and has over 80 million plays on SoundCloud. His debut mixtape, Fetty Wap: The Mixtape was originally set for release in February 2015 but was delayed because he continued to create new songs. On June 29, 2015, Wap released his second single “679”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLIF9MqCid8

Alright – Kendrick Lamar

Track from: To Pimp A Butterfly

[Top Dawg Entertainment/Aftermath Records/Interscope Records]

          Kendrick Lamar, a well known hip hop artist born from Compton, California. He began receiving the spot light attention after releasing his albums “Overly Dedicated” and “Section.80” with singles like “Hiipower”, “Swimming Pools (Drank) and “B**** don’t kill my vibe”. In 2015 he released his latest album “To Pimp a butterfly”, which has elements of poetry, jazz, spoken word, hip hop all in one. The album has his hit single “Alright” which caught the attention of a lot of people. “Alright” has also been one of the most captivating songs to be performed in front of audience because of its energy and meaning behind it.

Truffle Butter – Nicki Minaj Featuring Drake & Lil Wayne

Track from: The Pinkprint
[Young Money/Cash Money]

        Onika Tanya Maraj professionally known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, is Trinidadian born American rapper, song writer and singer. She was raised in South Jamaica, Queens, New York. With her signed deal with Young Money Entertainment with co-stars Lil Wayne, Birdman and Drake, the multi-talent artist released a lot of great hits like “Truffle Butter” “Starships” “moment for life” and so on.

Those are the 5 nominees for the ‘Best Rap Performance’ category. We at M-Lifestyle would like to know who you think will be the winner of the Grammy award!

Content was taken from original source: Billboard.com

Video credits : Youtube.com

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