50-year anniversary of hip-hop performance at the #GRAMMYs by some of the greats including RunDMC, LL Cool J, Salt N Peppa, Ice T, Queen Latifah, Wu-Tang, Big Boi, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott, Nelly, Too Short, GloRilla, The Roots, and more... pic.twitter.com/HmGB0bvGZX
— Leon Carrington (@LeonCarrington) February 6, 2023
One of the best performances in the history of the Grammys happened last night on live television and Nelly was there to represent St. Louis.
The Recording Academy marked 50 years of hip-hop with a blow-out celebration featuring a collaboration between decades of hip-hop artists. The all-star performance was a musical montage that hit on major songs and milestones in the history of hip-hop, from Grandmaster Flash to Lil Uzi Vert.
Not only did the collective performance prove that hip-hop is the most dynamic, engaging and relevant musical genre of the past half-century, it also highlighted its growth through pop culture from outsider songs on through to mainstream success.
We all love to bag on the Grammys, but it’s the only show that could bring this stunning amount of talent together to perform a flawless (and clearly well-rehearsed) 13-minute tribute to the culture. All credit to Questlove, who served as both the drummer and producer of this experience.
St. Louis’ own Nelly got some time in the spotlight as a featured performer when his song “Hot in Herre” was chosen as one of the 21 hip-hop songs included in the montage. He took the stage in a white t-shirt and a hoodie and he even rocked a band-aid on his cheek as a nod to his younger years.
“Hot in Herre” was sandwiched between Missy Elliot’s “Lose Control” and Too Short’s “Blow the Whistle.”
You can see the entire performance on the video embedded above and a list of all of the songs highlighted in the performance is below.
Grandmaster Flash - “Flash to the Beat”/“The Message”
Run-DMC - “King of Rock”
LL Cool J and DJ Jazzy Jeff - “I Can’t Live Without My Radio”/“Rock the Bells”
Salt-N-Pepa - “My Mic Sounds Nice”
Rakim - “Eric B. Is President”
Chuck D and Flavor Flav - “Rebel Without a Pause”
Black Thought and LL Cool J interlude (“Rump Shaker”)
Posdnuos of De La Soul - “Buddy”
Scarface - “Mind Playing Tricks on Me”
Ice-T - “New Jack Hustler (Nino’s Theme)”
Queen Latifah - “U.N.I.T.Y.”
Method Man - “Method Man”
Big Boi of Outkast - “ATLiens”
Busta Rhymes - “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See”/“Look at Me Now”
Missy Elliott - “Lose Control”
Nelly - “Hot in Herre”
Too Short - “Blow the Whistle”
The Lox and Swizz Beatz - “We Gonna Make It”
Lil Baby - “Freestyle”
GloRilla - “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)”
Lil Uzi Vert - “Just Wanna Rock”
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