Source: Raymond Boyd/Getty/NWA
It has been a long time. NWA, Gladys Knight and more to receive flowers from The Recording Academy.
It has been detected VarietyRap group that pioneered Gangsta Rap, iconic R&B singer, Queen of Disco Donna Summers, Tammy Wynette and legendary Gospel group Clark Sisters will receive 2024 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Awards at this year's Special Merit Awards ceremony.
Other notable names honored included Hip-Hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc, Linda Ronstadt/James Taylor, producer/manager Peter Asher, veteran attorney and longtime Grammy Academy executive Joel Katz, who will receive the Trustee award.
Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, spoke about this year's honorees, adding, “The Academy is honored to honor this year's Special Merit Award recipients—a remarkable group of creators and industry professionals whose impact resonates with generations around the world. Their contributions to music span genres, backgrounds and crafts, reflecting the rich diversity that fuels our creative community. We look forward to honoring these music industry pioneers next month as part of our week-long celebration ahead of Music's biggest night.”
It's time for NWA to get their flowers from the Recording Academy
For NWA, it's about time the rap stable got some recognition. Variety shared the Academy's explanation of the crew 'Straight Outta Compton back honored.
“NWA was a rap group from the Compton area of Los Angeles that many credit with the invention of gangsta rap. The band, consisting of Eazy-E^, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and MC-Ren, he developed a new sound that carried many of Public Enemy's powerful, extreme sonic innovations while adopting a self-consciously violent and dangerous lyrical stance. In 1988, NWA released their album, Straight Outta Compton, a brutally intense record that became an underground hit without any support from radio or MTV. This negative attention worked in their favor as it brought the album to multi-platinum status. Although the group was short-lived, gangsta rap established itself as the most popular form of hip-hop in the mid-1990s.”
The Recording Academy's Special Merit Awards wrap up Saturday, February 3, at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles.
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Photo: Raymond Boyd/Getty
