Hip hop artists don’t tend to have a great relationship with the Grammys, with people like Jay Z and Kanye West having openly boycotted the ceremony after being snubbed for awards. This year, however, is the year of hip hop if anything. Jay Z is the undisputed king of the nominees list with nine nods to his name, including the coveted Best Rap Performance, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Rap Song, for his Magna Carta Holy Grail hits "Tom Ford," "Part II (On the Run)," and "Holy Grail," respectively, MTV reports. This comes after two years of Mr Carter boycotting the awards. In 2002 he refused to attend the Grammys, explaining: “I am boycotting the Grammys because too many major rap artists continue to be overlooked.”

Jay Z, Ziggo Dome
Was it Jay Z's boycott that fixed the situation?

He boycotted the 2011 and 2012 awards for the same sentiment. Hov did make the 2013 Grammys in a big way, however and it looks like he will also make an appearance at the 2014 awards.

Lest anyone thinks that Jay Z’s success this year is an exception, several other hip hop artists are taking the awards by storm, Kendrick Lamar’s star has been rising steadily this year, so it’s no surprise that his name features heavily in the nominees list, with seven whole nods. Tied with Lamar are the self-made team Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, who skyrocketed to fame in 2013 and have been nominated for the very first time. The independent creative team are nominated for some of the top awards, Song of the Year for "Same Love" and Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for "Thrift Shop."

Kendrick Lamar, Way Out West Festival
Lamar is another rising star, who cleaned out on nominations night this year.

"Up until a year, a year and a half ago, we were an underground rapper that only a small percentage of the population had heard," Macklemore told MTV News after being nominated.. "And to be here, and to reach this scale, I would have never thought that our music would affect this many people and be heard by this many people. It's the highest honor; it's the peak of what you strive for in terms of being recognized for the music that you make."

Macklemore even took to Twitter to express his astonishment: