XXL Awards 2022

1.24.22

XXL Awards 2022 1.24.22

A new awards night has taken place thanks to the folks over at XXL Magazine. With the Grammys pushed til April, XXL was able to kick start 2022 with some fresh new awards and nominees, for the first ever XXL Awards. The team pulled together 158 music industry execs and pioneers to form the XXL Awards Board, to vote on eleven categories of top performing artists the past year. The ‘People’s Champ’ award, was left up to consumers.

It was pretty impactful from the start, that XXL was able to get 158 hip-hop essentials to be a part of the board, to deliberate and come up with these winners. The board consisted of people from 2 Chainz, to Eminem, to 50 Cent, Bun B, Charlamagne Tha God, Biggs, Sway, Ebro, DJ Drama, E-40, Fat Joe, Lil Kim, DJ Khaled, Gucci Mane, Jeezy, Juicy J, DJ Envy, Missy Elliot, Paul Rosenberg, Run the Jewels, and many more. Many of them gathered to shoot multiple covers for magazines, as well as participated in interviews describing the excitement and importance of having an awards show to celebrate and support hip-hop.

It seems that often, hip-hop is looked over or misrepresented throughout awards shows that are not tailored specifically to this genre. Members of the board were inspired to give hip-hop artists their flowers, and perhaps find some new talent to follow, as well. I would love to be a fly on the wall during these discussions, because selecting some of these winners must have been tough. In some instances, it does seem that the winner is obvious (Drake winning multiple awards). But at the same time, numbers do not lie, and this board knows exactly what they are talking about. Drake dropping his new album which outsold any other album by a landslide, it makes sense to see him where he is represented throughout the awards. Below is a recap of the categories, nominations, and the winners.

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Doja Cat

• Drake /// Winner*

• J. Cole

• Kanye West

• Nas

• Tyler, The Creator

• YoungBoy Never Broke Again

All artists had a great year, in different ways. Drake releasing Certified Lover Boy came with high expectations, and delivered. Whether or not you loved it, hated it, or felt somewhere in between, you surely listened to the album, and the numbers would tell you so. On top of that, the media leading up to the release and his other business adventures in the apparel space have made it a winning year for Drake.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• Doja Cat's Planet Her

• Drake's Certified Lover Boy /// Winner*

• J. Cole's The Off-Season

• Kanye West's Donda

• Moneybagg Yo's A Gangsta’s Pain

• Nas' King's Disease II

• Tyler, The Creator's Call Me If You Get Lost

The battle between Donda and Certified Lover Boy was the highlight of music and friendly competition in quite some time. You can absolutely have your personal opinions that Donda was better, or any other album on the nominees. Personally, I think Tyler, the Creator has an album of the year on his hands, more fittingly so in this genre than when he won the Grammy for best Hip-Hop album with Igor. However, again, numbers do not lie. Drake is unstoppable, his album was the highest selling album of the year. This had to be the answer.

SONG OF THE YEAR

• Baby Keem's “Family Ties” ft. Kendrick Lamar

• DJ Khaled's “Every Chance I Get” ft. Lil Durk, Lil Baby /// Winner*

• Drake's “Way 2 Sexy” ft. Future, Young Thug

• Kanye West's “Off the Grid” ft. Playboi Carti, Fivio Foreign

• Moneybagg Yo's “Time Today”

• Polo G's “Rapstar”

• Tyler, The Creator’s “Wusyaname” ft. YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Ty Dolla Sign

I was excited to see this winner. Again, there are a ton of great options. You could have went with Drake or Kanye again for two of the top hit singles on each of their legendary albums. However, Every Chance I Get, is a new hip-hop anthem, recorded by two of the biggest artists in hip-hop today. You do not see Lil Durk and Lil Baby winning awards too much, but this was well deserved here.

MALE RAPPER OF THE YEAR

• Drake

• J. Cole

• Kanye West

• Lil Baby /// Winner*

• Moneybagg Yo

• Nas

• Tyler, The Creator

Lil Baby’s last solo album was in 2020, but he dropped the joint project with Lil Durk in 2021. Still, he remained consistent throughout, releasing new music that was fun, and some that had meaning. The Bigger Picture, while released in 2020 has continued to get nominations and recognition for being a song to educate consumers on the racial injustice issues people are facing today. Lil Baby has also continued to help build a strong team of new talent for his label, and has progressively shown growth as an artist and a businessman in the industry, proving he is around for the long haul.

FEMALE RAPPER OF THE YEAR

• Cardi B

• Coi Leray

• Doja Cat /// Winner*

• Latto

• Megan Thee Stallion

• Nicki Minaj

• Saweetie

I want Latto to win so bad. I just think that she is the female to beat right now. She can sing, she can rap, she can talk about real life things. There is real talent there. However, this was Doja Cat’s year for the taking. She’s released new music, performed at festivals, and stayed connected with her fans all year. Doja Cat is a chart topper, and these wins are all well-deserved for a killer year from the artist.

BEST NEW ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• BLXST /// Winner*

• Coi Leray

• Flo Milli

• EST Gee

• Morray

• Pooh Shiesty

• 42 Dugg

These are all really great nominees for Best New Artist. While I personally think it’s a bit late for Blxst to win best new artist, he has recently been bubbling up a lot more this year with some new features. He brings a sense of upbeat, sing-along R&B back to hip-hop, which has seemingly been missing for a bit. With his hit Chosen featuring Ty Dolla $ign and many others, this was a super smart choice by the board.

LYRICIST OF THE YEAR

• Isaiah Rashad

• J. Cole /// Winner*

• Lil Baby

• Nas

• Tyler, The Creator

• Vince Staples

• Westside Gunn

Of course my vote here would go to Westside Gunn, but I am certain that this had to be one of the more heated debates for the board. WG has had a killer year, and has truly brought the importance to lyricism back to hip-hop. You have a legend in Nas, and other talents that push the needle with how they articulate their rhymes in different and unique ways. But, you put J. Cole in this category, and after the release of The Off-Season, after the LA Leakers freestyle, it just does not seem like anyone could beat the story teller that his is. Not this year.

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

• Cardo

• Hit-Boy /// Winner*

• Kanye West

• The Alchemist

• Tyler, The Creator

• Wheezy

• YC

Call Hit-Boy For Beats, Ask For Ten Of Them - Cordae, Sinister

This one, respectfully, was a no brainer. I would have liked to see a few others in the nominations, like Tay Keith. It was Hit-Boy’s year, though. He has worked with everyone from Eminem to Cordae to Don Tolliver, Big Sean and more.

PERFORMER OF THE YEAR

• Doja Cat /// Winner*

• Jack Harlow

• Kanye West

• Lil Baby

• Megan Thee Stallion

• Rico Nasty

• Tyler, The Creator

Doja Cat takes home her second award for performer of the year. When you think of Doja Cat, do you not instantly think of her energy and thematics? It just makes sense that she wins this award as well. Tyler, the Creator had one of the best performances of all times at the BET awards, so this was likely close, also. However, Doja went on a bit of a performance run, which I personally got to see live at Made In America. She is incredible, and the stage presence is unmatched.

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

• Baby Keem's “Family Ties” ft. Kendrick Lamar

• Cardi B's “Up”

• Drake's “Way 2 Sexy” ft. Future, Young Thug /// Winner*

• Internet Money's “His and Hers”

• Lil Nas X's “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”

• Megan Thee Stallion’s “Thot Sh*t”

• Tyler, The Creator's “Lumberjack”

Drake wins video of the year for Way 2 Sexy. I cannot ever seem to get over how much of a goofball Drake makes himself out to be in all the videos he puts out. This one in particular is wild, and is bound to make you laugh or at least keep you entertained. Makes a lot of sense to take home award for video of the year.

HIP-HOP'S HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR

• Jay-Z /// Winner*

• Meek Mill

• Megan Thee Stallion

• Trae Tha Truth

• Young Dolph

• 21 Savage

• 50 Cent

I like the Trae Tha Truth nomination here - a lot. Not someone you hear about everyday, especially when it comes to awards, however, he does a lot for his community. Jay-Z wins, which also makes complete sense. From his campaigns to reform injustice issues, to building an empire to help other musicians, athletes and more make the best business decisions they can, he is someone that everyone in the industry looks up to.

THE PEOPLE'S CHAMP

• Cardi B

• Drake

• Doja Cat

• J. Cole

• Kanye West

• Lil Baby

• Lil Durk

• Lil Nas X

• Megan Thee Stallion

• Moneybagg Yo

• Nas

• Nicki Minaj /// Winner*

• Playboi Carti

• Polo G

• Rod Wave

• Saweetie

• Tyler, The Creator

• YoungBoy Never Broke Again

• Young Thug

• 50 Cent

The Barbz really could not let Nicki slide without any awards. I am not sure if this was her year to win this, but maybe it is never not her time to win? I do not really know who my people’s champ is, I’d probably go off of the nominations all together. But go ahead Barbz, you did what you needed to do.