Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar & GloRilla Heat Up 2026 Grammys Race for Best Rap Song and Performance: Our Predictions

From record-breaking tours to seismic comebacks, it’s been quite a year for hip-hop. Below, we assess the state of the three single-focused categories in the rap field at the 2026 Grammys: best rap performance, best rap song and best melodic rap performance.

Best Rap Performance

If one thing’s for certain when it comes to the 2026 Grammys, it’s that Kendrick Lamar will be nominated across the rap field — and he may very well show up twice in best rap performance. Already a lock for his own Lefty Gunplay-assisted “TV Off,” Lamar will likely earn an additional nomination here alongside Clipse for “Chains & Whips.” Already a seven-time winner in this category, K.Dot earned double nominations here at last year’s ceremony with “Not Like Us,” which went on to win, and Future & Metro Boomin’s “Like That.”

Outside of the Kendrick of it all, two of hip-hop’s leading ladies are also likely to reap bids in this category. Doechii‘s best rap album victory at last year’s ceremony was a star-making moment, and it’s likely she shows up in this category with “Anxiety,” even though best melodic rap performance might have been a better fit. The left-field hit became her first Hot 100 top 10 hit (No. 9), topped Rhythmic Airplay and reached No. 3 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Cardi B is a five-time nominee in this category, and she can probably ride her current Am I the Drama? momentum to a nod for “Outside,” which reached No. 10 on the Hot 100. And just like that, that’s four out of five spots accounted for. Who’s battling for the final slot?

Tyler, the Creator is all but guaranteed to earn a best rap album nod for Chromakopia, and “Darling I” (with Teezo Touchdown) is his sole submission in this category. Similarly, GloRilla has high odds of landing a rap album nomination for Glorious, and “Whatchu Kno Bout Me” (with Sexyy Red) is her primary submission here. While Glo’s song topped airplay charts — and soundtracked Eras Tour TikToks from one Taylor Swift — Tyler’s track is one of the best showcases of his rap skill on Chromakopia. In terms of recent hits, BigXThaPlug‘s “The Largest” is a formidable contender, as is Offset‘s JID-assisted “Bodies.” Both songs reached the top 20 of Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs, and all involved artists have remained visible throughout the year. JID is also contending with his own Eminem-assisted “Animals,” and considering Slim Shady’s record of three nominations in this category — including one last year for “Houdini” — that track might be one to keep an eye on.

More mature voters may want to side with vets like LL Cool J, who submitted “Praise Him,” a collaboration with Nas. Interestingly, Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist have two submissions in this category: Alfredo 2 lead single “1995” and “Ensalada” (with Anderson .Paak). Anderson won here back in 2019, which bodes well for “Ensalada,” but it’s probably more likely that the two songs split votes.

Other songs to look out for: “Frequency” (D Smoke & Lucky Daye); “Lil Demon” (Future), “No More Old Men” (Chance the Rapper & Jamila Woods) and “Good Credit” (Playboi Carti & Kendrick Lamar).

Our Fearless Forecast

Our predictions are: “TV Off” (Kendrick Lamar & Lefty Gunplay), “Chains & Whips” (Clipse & Kendrick Lamar), “The Largest” (BigXThaPlug), “Outside” (Cardi B) and “Anxiety” (Doechii).

Best Rap Song

Like best R&B performance and best R&B song, there’s often an overlap between best rap performance and song. Expect Lamar to show up here with “TV Off,” but Clipse will most likely earn a nod here for “The Birds Don’t Sing” (with Pharrell Williams), which they recently performed at The Vatican. The brother duo is also contending alongside JID with the Atlanta MC’s “Community.” Doechii’s “Anxiety” might also pull double duty here, especially considering her nifty reconfiguration of the song’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” sample. With three spots accounted for, who’s fighting for the final two?

Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West) boasts the most nominations (17) and wins (7) in this category, but it’s not likely voters rally around “Preacher Man,” one of the more notable tracks from Bully. Tyler, the Creator inexplicably has two Chromakopia tracks in contention here: “Sticky” (with GloRilla, Sexyy Red & Lil Wayne) and “St. Chroma” (with Daniel Caesar). The former allows voters to honor four hip-hop stars in one fell swoop, but the latter might be a more attractive selection for those who prefer more heady rap tracks. GloRilla also has a formidable contender of her own in “TGIF,” but that may feel like old news to voters by this point. J. Cole‘s “Port Antonio” and Megan Thee Stallion‘s “Bigger In Texas” are also worth keeping an eye on; neither song made much of a commercial impact, but they were both highly praised in hip-hop circles. “Ensalada” is also competing in this category, as are Chance the Rapper’s “Letters” and Playboi Carti’s Lamar-assisted “Good Credit.”

Songs competing for best melodic rap performance can also be considered for best rap song. Some of those selections include “Timeless” (The Weeknd & Playboi Carti), “Somebody Loves Me” (PARTYNEXTDOOR & Drake) and “Somebody” (Latto).

Our Fearless Forecast

Our predictions are: “TV Off” (Kendrick Lamar & Lefty Gunplay), “The Birds Don’t Sing” (Clipse & Pharrell Williams), “Anxiety” (Doechii), “Sticky” (Tyler, the Creator, GloRilla, Sexyy Red & Lil Wayne) and “Timeless” (The Weeknd & Playboi Carti).

Best Melodic Rap Performance

Let’s be real, this award already belongs to “Luther.” Kendrick and SZA‘s monster hit spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and was prominently featured at the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show, as well as every night of the duo’s record-breaking Grand National Tour. “Timeless,” The Weeknd and Playboi Carti‘s Hurry Up Tomorrow hit, is probably its closest competitor. The Weeknd’s been nominated three times before in this category, winning in 2022 for Ye’s “Hurricane” (with Lil Baby). Peaking at No. 3 on the Hot 100, “Timeless” also benefits from being the biggest single from The Weeknd’s latest album, which also marks his proper return to the Grammy ballot after a five-year boycott. The pair also performed the song on the Grammy telecast in February, as well as each night of The Weeknd’s wildly successful After Hours til Dawn Tour.

Drake, who’s maintaining his Grammy boycott, is also a leading contender in this category alongside PARTYNEXTDOOR with “Somebody Loves Me.” An eight-time nominee and two-time winner in this category, Drake’s PND-assisted hit topped Rhythmic Airplay and reached No. 30 on the Hot 100. Notably, Drizzy has earned Grammy nods during his boycott thanks to submissions from other artists. In 2023, he won alongside Future and Tems for the former’s “Wait for U.”

Latto has earned a nod in this category in two of the past three years, and a nomination for “Somebody” isn’t entirely out of the question. While the song lacked the commercial success of “Big Energy” and the cultural impact of “Big Mama,” it still reached No. 94 on the Hot 100 and peaked in the top 10 of Rhythmic Airplay (No. 8). Future has also been a recent darling in this category, earning a nod last year after double nominations (and a win) in 2023. This year, he’s competing with “Too Fast,” which topped three radio charts and had the most shelf life of all the Mixtape Pluto singles. There’s also Lil Tecca‘s “Dark Thoughts,” which earned ample pop crossover success, reaching No. 2 on Rhythmic Airplay, No. 35 on Pop Airplay and No. 28 on the Hot 100.

Potential dark horses in this category include “Wholeheartedly” (JID, Ty Dolla $ign & 6LACK), “Lose My Mind” (Don Toliver & Doja Cat), “Ride” (Chance the Rapper & Do or Die), “WeMaj” (Terrace Martin, Kenyon Dixon & Rapsody), “Backd00r” (Playboi Carti, Kendrick Lamar & Jhené Aiko) and “Don’t Deserve” (GloRilla & Muni Long).

Our Fearless Forecast

Our predictions are: “Luther” (Kendrick Lamar & SZA), “Timeless” (The Weeknd & Playboi Carti), “Somebody Loves Me” (PARTYNEXTDOOR & Drake), “Dark Thoughts” (Lil Tecca) and “Too Fast” (Future).