Nipsey tribute Grammys

watch Grammys Nipsey Hussle tribute with Meek Mill, YG, John Legend, DJ Khaled & more

The Grammys hosted a star-studded tribute to the late Nipsey Hussle. It started with Meek Mill performing a powerful new verse he wrote for Nip, then after a short interlude by Roddy Ricch, it switched to DJ Khaled, John Legend, and Nipsey Hussle’s “Higher.” It began with DJ Khaled giving Nip a big shoutout, then John Legend performed his chorus from the piano, then they showed a video of Nip rapping his verse, and then they brought out Nip’s longtime frequent collaborator YG to add in his own verse. After that, they brought out gospel singer Kirk Franklin to do the same. At the end of the song, they projected pictures of both Nipsey Hussle and Kobe Bryant, and DJ Khaled said “Long live Nip, long live Kobe Bryant, long live Gianna.”

“Higher” won Best/Rap Sung Performance tonight, beating out Lil Baby & Gunna, Lil Nas
X/Roddy Ricch, and Young Thug/J Cole/Travis Scott. Nipsey and Roddy Ricch’s “Racks in the Middle” was also up for Best Rap Performance and won that during the Premiere Ceremony, beating out J Cole, DaBaby, Dreamville, and Offset/Cardi B.

Nipsey’s family accepted the Best Rap Performance award with a series of emotional speeches. His grandmother said, “I wanted to thank all of you for showing all the love that I have felt for him all of his life and will always live in my heart, so: thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

DJ Khaled, John Legend and others accepted the Best/Rap Sung Performance award during the televised ceremony. DJ Khaled said “this is for Nipsey Hussle! this is for hip hop!” and he thanked Nipsey’s family. John Legend also paid tribute to Nipsey and thanked his family, and said, “We’ve seen so much tragedy today and last year. So much has gone on, but let’s love each other, let’s love our families.”

Full list of nominees and winners here.

UPDATE: The Meek Mill and Roddy Ricch performance was a portion of their new song “Letter to Nipsey,” which is out now. All proceeds from sales and streams of the song will go to Nipsey’s family. Listen below.

https://youtu.be/P4DNDJq-jHU

https://twitter.com/KarenCivil/status/1221635960011730945