Erykah Badu was among the list of winners at the 2025 Grammy Awards. The neo-soul legend won Best Melodic Rap Performance for her feature on Rapsody’s “3:AM.”
It marks the rapper’s first-ever Grammy win. “So much to feel,” Rapsody wrote in an Instagram post. “So many loved ones to thank. Not enough words to articulate it all. It’s been a long time coming. Not validation. Affirmation. A welcoming into a prestigious village. Thank you to the Creator, Jehovah. Thank you to those who always saw me. I bring the village of loved ones with me. To those who didn’t, you gotta see me now.”
As for Badu, it’s her first Grammy win in over 20 years and her fifth award overall. Her previous win was at the 45th Grammys in 2003, where she was awarded Best R&B Song for “Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop)” with Common.
The timeless classic, which Badu co-produced with Raphael Saadiq, Jake & The Phatman, and James Poyser, appeared on the Brown Sugar soundtrack and international editions of her third album, Worldwide Underground (2003), as a bonus track.
Badu became a Grammy winner at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998, where she won Best R&B Album for her debut album, Baduizm, and Best Female Vocal R&B Performance for the album’s lead single “On & On.”
Here is an overview of Erykah Badu’s Grammys:
- Best Melodic Rap Performance: “3:AM” (2025)
- Best R&B Song: “Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip Hop)” (2003)
- Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group: “You Got Me” (2000)
- Best R&B Album: Baduizm (1998)
- Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: “On & On” (1998)
Circling back to “3:AM,” the jazz-tinged track appears on Rapsody’s fourth album, Please Don’t Cry, which was released via Jamla/Roc Nation on May 17, 2024.
In a past interview with Billboard, Rapsody talked about working with Badu. “Dream come true. She’s someone I’ve always admired [and] looked up to. She’s always been graceful and supportive throughout my whole career. She’s one of my favorite and most influential artists.”
Rapsody continued, “So to be able to have a moment with her and create something that’s timeless, I can’t even articulate how beautiful and how thankful I am to God for connecting us in that way.”
Regarding the song’s creation, Rapsody told Stereogum, “On ‘3:AM’ I wrote to the piano, and we then built the beat around it later. It was really about raw emotion, and the piano brings out the most honest emotions, you know?”
Listen to Rapsody’s “3:AM” featuring Erykah Badu below.
