Questlove addresses questions about Grammys hip-hop tribute
Written by ABC Audio All Rights Reserved on February 7, 2023
Questlove is getting criticized about the Grammys hip-hop tribute, despite LL Cool J‘s warning ahead of the show that it wouldn’t include every artist from the genre. Taking to Twitter Monday, The Rootsstar addressed some of the questions in an attempt to make it clear that he doesn’t play “erasure games.”
“general ?s answered about last night: (some are asking if we are playing erasure games so uh….yeah I don’t play that so—in answering the questions of ‘why wasn’t dada there?),” Quest tweeted. “1. already booked 2. declined our offer straight up 3. or a third option im not gonna get into.”
He also noted that he “decided to eschew those who passed away, & give flowers to the living” and saved a few of the performers for a two-hour taping that will take place in August.
According to Questlove, the hip-hop performance went through a “crazy evolution” before he and his team decided on a criteria. Artists considered for the tribute had to be alive, known by at least two generations, “superlyrical” and from NYC, LA, Atlanta, New Orleans, Houston, the Bay Area or the Midwest, among other things.
Quest acknowledged that the chosen artists “might not be your favorite” and that two last-minute “cancellations that mighta made it look like we were biased in our choices.” “Just understand we literally tried to SQUEEEEEEEZE everyone in,” he added.
The nearly 12-minute tribute honored hip-hop’s 50th anniversary at the Grammys and included appearances from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Salt-N-Pepa, Ice-T, Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes and Nelly.
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