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Los Angeles, Oct. 16 (IANS): Rapper Nicki Minaj's 'Super Freaky Girl' was shifted out of the Grammy's rap categories and into the pop division on a preliminary ballot.
It nearly resulted in an international incident, given the ensuing publicity and controversy as voting began this week. However, Minaj is, in fact, on the ballot in rap categories this year but not for 'Super Freaky Girl', reports Variety.
Grammy voters who've received their ballots have disclosed that Minaj is in contention in the best rap performance category for another song of hers, 'Do We Have a Problem?', which has a featured appearance from Lil Baby.
According to Variety, the Grammy's rap screening committee apparently considered this more of a true hip-song and 'Super Freaky Girl' more pop in nature, splitting the difference.
'Do We Have a Problem?' was a substantial hit, although not quite as mammoth as 'Super Freaky Girl', which went to No. 1 this summer on the Billboard Hot 100. Minaj has already been awarded for it: The 'Problem' video won a best hip-hop video trophy at the MTV Video Music Awards in August.
In fact, Minaj makes several more appearances on the rap part of the Grammy ballot, although several are for collaborative songs on which she was considered more of a featured artist and may not have been involved in making the Grammy submissions.
Variety adds that 'Blick Blick', a track she shares with Coi Leray, is on the ballot for best rap performance and best rap song. (It was also submitted and accepted in the music video category.)
Similarly, 'Love in the Way', a song she did with Bleu, is listed among the eligible songs for best rap song and best melodic rap performance. In both cases, Minaj is listed as a featured artist, not the primary name.
Altogether, Minaj appears eight times on the ballot - once in a pop category, twice in music video, and five times in rap categories. However, the fact that she has other shots at being nominated and winning in the rap division does not alloy her and others' belief that 'Super Freaky Girl' remains her best shot at picking up something, and that its best shot might have been in the far less crowded rap category.