LOS ANGELES — Once shunned by the Recording Academy, the 2023 Grammy Awards paid homage to 50 years of hip-hop history on Sunday with performances by influential artists from the genre’s past, present and future.
LL Cool J, who in 1989 boycotted the awards show along with other high-profile rappers when the Recording Academy didn’t televise its first rap award, led Sunday’s night all-star salute.
Hip-hop pioneers Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Melle Mel and Rahiem of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five burst onto the stage with a punchy snippet of their 1982 single “The Message.”