M.I.A., Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Kanye West, T.I. “Swagga Like Us” @ 51st Annual Grammy Awards

by Staff, February 9, 2009

Just when you thought you had enough of the song “Swagga Like Us”, M.I.A., Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, T.I. and Kanye West teams up to perform the song at the 51st annual Grammy Awards. For those who missed the 51st annual Grammy Awards, Lil Wayne won the Rap album of the year with Tha Carter III. As our writer on Hypetrak writes, “The performance was electrifying to say the least, and very much an iconic moment to see all those artists to be on stage at the same time.”

62 Responses

  1. Posted by: mange Merde on February 11, 2009 at 4:28 pm

    What did Jay Z have on his feet?

  2. Posted by: panda666 on February 10, 2009 at 11:45 pm

    my only respect to Jay-Z…none of others there i like…

  3. Posted by: Shinchi on February 10, 2009 at 7:14 pm

    Man… MIA you are TOO pregnant to be on stage. Your already past the due date; you should be at home prepared to give birth. It just looked totally wrong.

  4. Posted by: wackattack on February 10, 2009 at 3:33 pm

    Wack, tacky, pathetic. m.i.a i love ya, but you looked ridiculous. stay home while prego please. Awful sound, awful unison, just a bunch of inflated egos clashing and prancing around on stage. I like hip hop, but this ain’t it.

  5. Posted by: JusLi'lOl'Me on February 10, 2009 at 3:05 pm

    I don’t think my last entry got in so I’m trying again……..I just gotta say a couple things……imo I think M.I.A. looked horrible in that getup she was wearin, but I do have to give her credit for getting up on stage when she’s ready to pop any minute! And also I don’t like Kanye’s hair like that, apparently he does so I guess that’s what’s important, but it wasn’t nice to look at for me at least!. As far as M.I.A. lip syncin, I know a lot of artists do that so whatever, give her a break, at least she was up there trying to entertain with a belly ready to bust!! I like everyone who was on the stage, but I have to admit that the performance was a mess. Sounded horrible to me.

  6. Posted by: Jus Li'l ol' me on February 10, 2009 at 2:13 pm

    I just gotta say……….I like all those guys, but imo, Kanye looked weird with that hair, MIA looked horrible in what she was wearing, but gotta give her credit for gettin up there and doin her thing….even though she was lip singing——-Give her a break on that one, she was performin when she’s due to pop any minute now!! The guys all looked good, cept Kanye’s hair. I really didn’t care for the performance though, sounded kinda like a mess. I agree with u that said it sounds messed up live.

  7. Posted by: mclovin on February 10, 2009 at 1:03 pm

    MIA’s real name is MATHANGI ARULPRAGASAM!

  8. Posted by: KeepItFunky on February 10, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    These Are The 4 Hottest && Greatest Rappers In The Game Right Now
    Please Believe It Their Swag Is Yuckkk!!!!! Nobody Can Top These
    Guys Right Here There At The Top Of There Game Mos Def….

  9. Posted by: migzzz on February 10, 2009 at 10:18 am

    i meant m.i.a. haha

  10. Posted by: migzzz on February 10, 2009 at 9:54 am

    hey are those vaiders weezy is wearing?

  11. Posted by: SELF aka CHEWIT on February 10, 2009 at 7:02 am

    Think this was wack have you all forgotten what hip hop was all about im from the uk and M.i.A has made it big from who shes knows not how good she is and for the rest come on just look back 15 yrs and ull see what it use to be all about THE WORLD HAS GONE MAD !

  12. Posted by: lord lovos on February 10, 2009 at 4:46 am

    dude it looks like her water is about to break. pretty epic setting.

  13. Posted by: www.Sabre.fm on February 10, 2009 at 3:09 am

    They are http://www.sabre.fm shades

  14. Posted by: Lil Wayne on February 10, 2009 at 3:07 am

    What Shades was Lil wayne wearing?

  15. Posted by: Andrew on February 10, 2009 at 2:46 am

    Wayne had on his Sabres. Jay was rocking SUPERs. What sunglasses were TI and MIA wearing?

  16. Posted by: supra on February 9, 2009 at 11:23 pm

    thoes glasses that all of them were wearing were sabre

  17. Posted by: Tank on February 9, 2009 at 10:16 pm

    Is it me or did MIA lip synch?

    Kanye’s mullet is ridiculous.

  18. Posted by: clayt0n on February 9, 2009 at 9:57 pm

    fucking legendary

  19. Posted by: Nathan on February 9, 2009 at 8:54 pm

    M.I.A. was lip-syncing, and doing a poor job of it at that. Just watch the first 30 seconds and she messes up at least twice. Singing the wrong lines and singing when she’s not supposed to. Also she looked like a disgusting mess. Props to everyone else up there though.

  20. Posted by: me on February 9, 2009 at 7:40 pm

    i think it was WACK to be honest. I think coldplays performance was 100000% better. and i dont even really like coldplay

  21. Posted by: Quickstriker on February 9, 2009 at 6:20 pm

    Kanye looks like Billy Ocean x Lionel Ritchie with that mullet!

  22. Posted by: alexander on February 9, 2009 at 6:16 pm

    where is cass at?

  23. Posted by: JUST C on February 9, 2009 at 4:56 pm

    NOTHING SHORT OF HISTORIC.

  24. Posted by: unrelated on February 9, 2009 at 3:46 pm

    if i see any fuckin idiot walking around with a mullet now…ima smack fire to them…

  25. Posted by: unrelated on February 9, 2009 at 3:43 pm

    kanye looks like the black joe dirt..wtf is he doing!!!!! a mullet!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  26. Posted by: MCP on February 9, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    damn that was fire!!!!

  27. Posted by: dubhead on February 9, 2009 at 2:49 pm

    I’ve never heard this song before, but like most mainstream hiphop, a few minutes into the video was all I needed to remind me why I stick to underground artists (think Immortal Technique, Talib Kweli, Giant Panda).

    @ Boss:
    I totally agree with you, most live hiphop acts do sound pretty horrible.

  28. Posted by: captain blastoff on February 9, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    this song is lame…on top of it, is anyone else tired of jay dressing up in a costume according to who he’s performing for? is he tux or street or both? I cant figure it out anymore. I know its the grammy’s , but this dudes best days are behind him.

  29. Posted by: using namespace Charmander; on February 9, 2009 at 2:32 pm

    string haterMessage = “Damn son, I can’t stand those guys…or M.I.A.”;

    cout << haterMessage << endl;

  30. Posted by: A Savvy on February 9, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    That performance was well worth the wait. Btw, stop talkin about M.I.A. like she ain’t the shit. So what you didn’t like her outfit, she’s up on stage on her due date, making history! Show some respect! The dayum song wouldn’t exsist without Paper Planes!

  31. Posted by: A6NT6HO6NY on February 9, 2009 at 2:25 pm

    great energy and i thought was the best performance of the night untill RADIOHEAD performed. incredibly dope.

    fuck the haters!

  32. Posted by: Pablo on February 9, 2009 at 2:10 pm

    wack, Robot voices, wack MC’s, wack beats.

  33. Posted by: Boss on February 9, 2009 at 1:50 pm

    Man, that sounded like crap, just as most hip-hop does live. It sounded like a full drum set was falling down a flight of stairs for four minutes.

  34. Posted by: asdd on February 9, 2009 at 1:50 pm

    i dont know if you guys notice, but MIA lip sang, and she said her line wrong at 0:20!

  35. Posted by: G-Note on February 9, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    So Dope!!!!

  36. Posted by: W, on February 9, 2009 at 1:47 pm

    LMAO @ Kanye’s hair.

  37. Posted by: Cubs Suck on February 9, 2009 at 1:44 pm

    man that was incredible. no egos or anyhting on the stage just a good ass performance….HIP HOP IS NOT DEAD.

    Mi.A. kinda looked weird tho…

  38. Posted by: Fredericks on February 9, 2009 at 1:43 pm

    This was like the video they never got to making, especially with the b/w effect.

  39. Posted by: tiny on February 9, 2009 at 1:16 pm

    Pathetic. I like (most of) them, but this proves there is no such thing as good “live hip-hop”. Jay-Z screaming “Yes” over and over again. Everyone “rapping” over each other. LAME!

  40. Posted by: Tommy Rocks on February 9, 2009 at 1:14 pm

    Nazra, Those sunglasses are called “SUPERS” you can look’em up.

    That was THE best performance of the WHOOOLLLLLEEEE Grammys. It was like a history making moment. I like how Kanye just stepped into it and just delivered that 1 st line like it was the last 1, dope.

  41. Posted by: bong on February 9, 2009 at 1:13 pm

    KJ, weezy was wearing suit man… are you blind?

  42. Posted by: Venom (www.mamasmule.com) on February 9, 2009 at 12:50 pm

    Great to see some unity in Hip-Hop!! These guys are like the biggest personalities in the game and it cool to see them all on the same track let alone the same stage!!

  43. Posted by: You wish you could on February 9, 2009 at 12:45 pm

    YO, LOOSE THE LIONEL RICHIE HAIR CUT KANYE!!! YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME WITH THAT THING!!!

    YOU REALLY THINK THAT’S HOT?!!!!!

  44. Posted by: reed on February 9, 2009 at 12:44 pm

    ^^ WERD..

  45. Posted by: Mic Check on February 9, 2009 at 12:44 pm

    YEEEEEEEAAAAAA! Great performance! M.I.A. Came through and did work with her baby bump! LOL

  46. Posted by: ... on February 9, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    goodd damnnn sunnn that shit was awsome !

  47. Posted by: church.... on February 9, 2009 at 12:23 pm

    i don’t know whether to be happy or depressed about MIA being on stage with these jokers. i hope her ego doesn’t blow up like all of the other dictators on that stage.

  48. Posted by: rottenapplelife on February 9, 2009 at 12:12 pm

    How the fuck does lil Wayne deserve a grammy,what is the world coming to?

  49. Posted by: pissedoffsneakerhead on February 9, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    HOT Sample, but MIA looked MAD ridiculous!!! She ruined the whole atmosphere and look of that performance. Im not against pregnant women, but you had the tops of Hip Hop dressed in tuxes and this half naked mess running around the stage. Still a good award show though overalll. It killed every award in the past year. I used to look forward to MTV’s award shows but those got horrible too. This definitely was better.

  50. Posted by: LowLife615 on February 9, 2009 at 11:44 am

    what a hypebeast dis performance is!!!!

  51. Posted by: nazra on February 9, 2009 at 11:44 am

    performance was historic! 4 of the best rappers in the game in one stage!
    BTW…anyone knows what sunglass JAY-Z is rocking?? Their awsome

  52. Posted by: Arcieri Keness on February 9, 2009 at 11:25 am

    Nice thry worked w/ M.I.A. but it’s too bad most of the four even heard of her before hand.

    Sad

  53. Posted by: Nyx on February 9, 2009 at 11:19 am

    Excellent performance, however M.I.A.’s outfit is atrocious

  54. Posted by: sig12 on February 9, 2009 at 11:13 am

    never will that be forgoten… 4 of the most iconic/best rappers to ever speak into a mic all on stage at one time

  55. Posted by: sqm on February 9, 2009 at 11:07 am

    4 names and 5 on stage!!!
    Are my eyes foolin me?!!

  56. Posted by: nazra on February 9, 2009 at 11:00 am

    This performance made the night!! My 4 favorite rappers on one stage…Moment in history for sure!
    BTW..anyone happens to know who are the sunglasses by, that Jay-Z Rocked??

  57. Posted by: dDope on February 9, 2009 at 10:51 am

    add TI to the list of people lol

  58. Posted by: kj on February 9, 2009 at 10:41 am

    dude! i just wrote about this…i’m from the South and i been ridin’ with Weezy since the OLD Cash Money/UNLV days. but for goodness sake! it’s the Grammys: WEAR A FRIGGIN’ SUIT!

  59. Posted by: marv albert on February 9, 2009 at 10:26 am

    these arent your grandparents’ grammys. i thought jay fell off, but i was wrong. this is the CSNY of hip hop.

  60. Posted by: dDope on February 9, 2009 at 10:18 am

    FIRE!

  61. Posted by: Mouton Noir on February 9, 2009 at 9:48 am

    Yeah this was off the hook!! What was up with the black and white then it switch to color?

  62. Posted by: PrimoDilla on February 9, 2009 at 9:40 am

    is M.I.A. the first woman to perform pregnant on the Grammy’s?