Grammy Award for Best Rap Song


The Grammy Award for Best Rap Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rap music genre. 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".
The award was first presented to Eminem along with Jeff Bass and Luis Resto for the song "Lose Yourself" from the soundtrack 8 Mile in 2004. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide, the award honors the songwriter of new songs or songs "first achieving prominence during the period of eligibility". Songs containing prominent samples may be eligible. The award goes to the songwriter, not to the artist except when the artist is also a songwriter of the winning song.
Kanye West holds the records for the most wins and nominations in this category, having won seven times out of sixteen nominations. West, Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams, Drake and Kendrick Lamar are the only songwriters to have won the category more than once. Cyhi the Prynce holds the record for most nominations without a win, with six.

Recipients

YearRecipientWorkPerforming artistNominees
Ref.
2004
Eminem
Luis Resto
2005
Che Smith
Kanye West
2006
Kanye West
2007
Pharrell Williams		 featuring Pharrell
2008Aldrin Davis
Faheem Najm
Kanye West		 featuring T-Pain
2009
Stephen Garrett
Darius Harrison
Jim Jonsin
Rex Zamor		 featuring Static Major
2010Shawn Carter
R. Fenty
M. Riddick
Kanye West
E. Wilson		 featuring Rihanna and Kanye West
2011
Angela Hunter
Alicia Keys
Jane't "Jnay" Sewell-Ulepic
Alexander Shuckburgh		 featuring Alicia Keys
2012Jeff Bhasker
Stacy Ferguson
Malik Jones
Warren Trotter
Kanye West		"All of the Lights"Kanye West featuring Rihanna and Kid Cudi
2013Shawn Carter
Mike Dean
Chauncey Hollis
Kanye West		"Niggas in Paris"Jay-Z and Kanye West
2014Ben Haggerty
Ryan Lewis		"Thrift Shop"Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz
2015Kendrick Duckworth
Columbus Smith
Ronald Isley		"I"Kendrick Lamar
2016Kendrick Duckworth
Kawan Prather
Mark Spears
Pharrell Williams		"Alright"Kendrick Lamar
2017Aubrey Graham
Paul Jefferies		"Hotline Bling"Drake
2018K. Duckworth
Asheton Hogan
M. Williams II		"Humble."Kendrick Lamar
2019Aubrey Graham
Ronald LaTour
Daveon Jackson
Brock Korsan
Matthew Samuels
Noah Shebib		"God's Plan"Drake
2020Jermaine Cole
Dacoury Natche
21 Savage
Anthony White		"A Lot"21 Savage featuring J. Cole
2021Beyoncé
Shawn Carter
Brittany Hazzard
Derrick Milano
Terius Nash
Megan Pete
Bobby Session Jr.
Jordan Kyle Lanier Thorpe
Anthony White		"Savage"Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé
2022Dwayne Abernathy, Jr.
Shawn Carter
Raul Cubina
Michael Dean
Charles M. Njapa
Sean Solymar
Kanye West
Mark Williams		"Jail"Kanye West featuring Jay-Z
2023Jake Kosich
Johnny Kosich
Kendrick Lamar
Matt Schaeffer		"The Heart Part 5"Kendrick Lamar
2024Andre Benjamin, Paul Beauregard, James Blake, Michael Render, Tim Moore & Dion Wilson"Scientists & Engineers"Killer Mike featuring André 3000, Future And Eryn Allen Kane
2025Kendrick Lamar"Not Like Us"Kendrick Lamar
2026

Artists with multiple wins and nominations

Multiple wins
;7 wins
  • Kanye West
;5 wins
  • Kendrick Lamar
;4 wins
  • Jay-Z
;2 wins
  • Pharrell Williams
  • Drake
Multiple nominations
;17 nominations
  • Kanye West
;14 nominations
  • Jay-Z
;13 nominations
  • Drake
;11 nominations
  • Kendrick Lamar
;7 nominations
;6 nominations
  • Pharrell Williams
;5 nominations
  • Eminem
;4 nominations
;3 nominations
;2 nominations