In 1989, Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff won the very first Grammy for Best Rap Performance. However, the win was not televised. I guess the higher ups couldn’t imagine people wanting to see rappers being presented with an award. Or maybe they didn’t know what would happen if they actually let rappers get on stage and speak freely, without a script. Whatever the case was, the rap duo wasn’t havin’ it. They boycotted, along with tons of other legendary rappers and Hip Hop icons.

Salt N Pepa, Russell Simmons, and Flava Flav were just a couple of names that joined in. When asked why he boycotted, The Fresh Prince (now known as Will Smith) had this to say:

“What I really wanted to accomplish is, next year, or two years from now, the rappers would be able to have what I didn’t have.”

Apparently the protest worked because he and Jazzy performed on the show the following year.

Read More At KarmaJonezKnows.com — http://karmajonezknows.com/2015/02/09/the-1989-grammy-boycott-how-it-helped-hip-hop/