In the “Best Rap Song” category, Black Thought’s “Love Letter” is nominated. The single, released by BET as Benny Boom-directed music video in February, represented The Roots’ co-founder’s dedication to Hip-Hop. “Beneath the flickering lamp post, we dance / Managing to keep the kick of the amp closer than / What some refer to as the spiritual santos / That span the days of Dapper Dan through June Ambrose / The band made us clap our hands / What came after was the scratch from the Grand Wizards and Grand Masters / One topic of discussion was whose hands were faster / Than a 6 train, where the illest tags were plastered / The pillars of the village at the origin of it / Came to occupy the space of our eternal beloved / This culture we constructed, was determined to thug it, and kept it rugged / While the proverbial gates got flooded / Cold-blooded, no budget / But we became raw to end the gang wars / What we started this thang for / So we were kings of pursuing visions of grandeur / With root of rhythm it was true religion we came towards,” raps the South Philadelphia native in a song that was later released by BET to digital streaming platforms in September. The song shouts out Sha Rock, Sylvia Robinson, Salt-n-Pepa, Megan Thee Stallion, MC Lyte, Lil’ Kim, Queen Latifah, Nicki Minaj, Lauryn Hill, and Cardi B. It also nods to A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy, JAY-Z, JAY-Z, Drake, Diddy, Eric B. & Rakim, Run-D.M.C., with cues to Fearless Four, Ghostface Killah, Curren$y, Migos, Common, Grand Wizard Theodore, and others.

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