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The 65th Annual Grammys are long gone, but viewers are still talking about some of the highlights from music’s biggest night, and one of those is the star-studded celebration of 50 years of Hip Hop.
While the over 10-minute performance featured the likes of LL Cool J, Nelly, Method Man, Lil Baby, Lil Uzi Vert, Busta Rhymes, Too Short, Flava Flave, Run DMC, De la Soul, Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, Missy Elliott, and many more–fans were a little disheartened to not see other key figures in Hip Hop they would have liked to.
Questlove has been revealing that the tribute performance was actually supposed to include many more acts but due to budget, timing, schedule conflicts, and other restraints, the performance had to be capped.
It took about four weeks to put this together. My first draft was closer to 20 minutes and Jesse Collins wasn’t having that. He was like, ‘There’s not enough budget in the world to clear all these songs and all these flights.’ Still, it’s 14 minutes and we’re starting from the beginning, from Grand Master Flash to Future — from Flash to the Future and everything in between. And I’m glad that I started out when Hip-Hop was taboo and now we not only have a seat at the table, we are the table.”
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He also revealed that Will Smith was actually set to be part of the tribute but had to bow out due to schedule conflicts for the filming of ‘Bad Boys 4.‘
“I’ll give the spoiler alert away. Will Smith was apart of the festivities tonight, but they started shooting ‘Bad Boys 4’ this week,” Questlove told Variety‘s Marc Malkin on the red carpet. “There were a lot of preliminary shots that he had to do, so we had to lose Will.”
Questlove went on to say that he knew getting Smith for the tribute was “a shot in the dark,” because the actor is “always shooting movies.”
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Will’s participation would have been quite significant considering that he and multiple acts who ended up onstage, including LL Cool J, Salt-N-Pepa, and DJ Jazzy Jeff, were part of the historic inaugural class of hip-hop artists who boycotted the first Grammy ceremony to include a rap award in 1989 because it was not being televised.
Quest has also revealed that due to the performance being cut and not featuring all the acts that he would have liked, there is another big project in the works that will feature more acts as part of the ongoing celebration of 50 years of Hip Hop this year.
If the all-star salute to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop on the 65th annual Grammy Awards left you wanting more, the Grammys have more on the way. A two-hour, Grammy-branded special will tape on Aug. 11, which is the 50th anniversary (to the day!) of a back-to-school party in The Bronx that many point to as the beginning of hip-hop culture. CBS will broadcast the special later this year.
Questlove, who curated the 15-minute spot on Sunday’s Grammy telecast, will have a role in the special, though his exact title is to be determined. Jesse Collins, an executive producer of the Grammy telecast, will produce the special.
Questlove, who curated the 15-minute spot on Sunday’s Grammy telecast, will have a role in the special, though his exact title is to be determined. Jesse Collins, an executive producer of the Grammy telecast, will produce the special.
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Relive the performance below.
Wow, shout out the genius Questlove’s direction. #Grammys2023’s celebration performance of 50 years of hip hop with so many legends part one… amazing pic.twitter.com/9OoOfzWGtC
— heysocialmedia (@zamnzapitalism) February 6, 2023
