The Recording Academy announced the recipients of the 2024 Lifetime Achievement and Trustees Awards on Friday (January 5). This year’s honorees included Hip-Hop pioneer DJ Kool Herc and N.W.A.
DJ Kool Herc will receive the Grammys Trustees Award along with Joel Katz and Peter Asher. The award aimed to acknowledge individuals for making “significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording.”
N.W.A members Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, DJ Yella and the late Eazy-E will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Gladys Knight, Donna Summer, Laurie Anderson, Tammy Wynette and the Clark Sisters were also selected for the Lifetime Achievement Award.
“The Academy is honored to pay tribute to this year’s Special Merit Award recipients — a remarkable group of creators and industry professionals whose impact resonates with generations worldwide,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said. “Their contributions to music span genres, backgrounds and crafts, reflecting the rich diversity that fuels our creative community. We look forward to honoring these music industry trailblazers next month as part of our week-long celebration leading up to Music’s Biggest Night.”
DJ Kool Herc, N.W.A and their fellow recipients will be celebrated at the Special Merit Awards ceremony the night before the 2024 Grammys. The event takes place at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on February 3.
The Recording Academy unveiled its awards for DJ Kool Herc and N.W.A. a few weeks after A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop aired on CBS. Many Hip-Hop luminaries participated in the TV special, but KRS-One was among the notable artists who turned down an invitation.
“When I got the call, I immediately say nah,” he said. “First of all, it’s the Grammys. You get no respect here. None. Now, we respect your existence. We know you exist and we know you’re the Grammys. We understand and we respect that, your existence. But you ignored Hip-Hop for 49 years. At the 50th year, you wanna call us? The 50th year? That’s when you call? You wait till the 50th year to wanna call Hip-Hop’s authentic teacher? Nah, you don’t get that privilege.”
Listen to him explain why he rejected the event below.