Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice mistakenly named winners of best rap song at Grammys

Music fans voiced their bewilderment after Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice were mistakenly announced on X, formerly Twitter, as winners of best rap song at the 2024 Grammy Awards on Sunday night.

In a post from the Grammys official X account, The Recording Academy offered its congratulations to the Super Bass singer and Ice Spice for their track Barbie World, which also features Aqua.

During the live pre-show telecast, US rapper Killer Mike was announced as the recipient of the award for his track Scientists & Engineers, featuring Andre 3000, Future and Eryn Allen Kane, leaving some social media users calling for an apology over the mistaken announcement.

The 48-year-old rapper, whose real name is Michael Render, was also arrested during the awards show for “misdemeanour battery” after an alleged physical altercation backstage.

Anaconda singer Minaj received two nominations for Barbie World – best song written for visual media and best rap song – but lost in both categories, meaning she has never won a Grammy Award.

X users shared their confusion over the mistaken post, with one writing: “Currently waiting for you to explain what happened with the Best Rap Song situation”, while a second added: “What the hell is going on? Such a mess @RecordingAcad.”

Others called for an apology or a statement to be issued over the incident.

One X user wrote: “#Grammys still have time to apologise that the incorrect winner was announced for Best Rap Song. It’s the only thing you can do to save this situation.”

Another post from a Nicki Minaj fan account read: “I want to see the Best Rap Song card.”

Although the mistaken announcement on X was quickly rectified, several social media users took screenshots of the original post which read: “Congrats Best Rap Song winners – Barbie World (From Barbie The Album) @nickiminaj & @icespicee_ Featuring Aqua.”

The Grammys official account posted congratulations to Killer Mike, writing on X: “Congrats Best Rap Song winner – ‘SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS’ @killermike ft. Andre 3000, @1future and @ErynAllenKane.”

Render also took home Grammys for best rap album for his sixth studio album, Michael, while his award-winning track also earned him best rap performance.

Other artists nominated in the category for best rap song were Doja Cat for Attention, Lil Uzi Vert for Just Wanna Rock, and Drake and 21 Savage for their track titled Rich Flex.

Barbie World featured in the Barbie film soundtrack, including a sample from Aqua’s 1997 hit Barbie Girl.