Hip-Hop was in the house at the 2026 Grammy Awards as the Clipse, Tyler, The Creator and Lauryn Hill all delivered show-stopping performances on Music’s Biggest Night.
Tyler, who won Best Album Cover and was nominated for a further five awards, brought his two most recent albums, Chromakopia and Don’t Tap the Glass, to life inside Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena with a typically theatrical medley that proved why he’s one of rap’s greatest showmen.
The Hawthorne, California native kicked things off with a high-energy rendition of “Thought I Was Dead” while rocking his military-style Chromakopia outfit and mask.
As his set segued into a lush interlude version of “Like Him,” legendary actress Regina King joined Tyler on stage to play the role of his mom and give the multi-hyphenate rapper a motivational speech — just as the real-life version does throughout Chromakopia.
Tyler then switched gears to his Don’t Tap the Glass era, complete with his red leather threads and matching Ferrari, which he crashed into his Chromakopia character (a metaphor for that phase of his career being officially over?).
Backed by a gas station backdrop, Tyler closed things out with the sexually-charged “Sugar On My Tongue,” full of Michael Jackson-esque dance moves and an explosive finale.
Later during the ceremony, Lauryn Hill made her first Grammys appearance in 27 years to lead an all-star tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack, both of whom tragically passed away last year.
“D and I never got to do this on stage together. Make time for people you love while you can,” the Fugees legend urged the audience before performing their beautiful 1998 collaboration “Nothing Even Matters” with D’Angelo’s band, The Vanguard.
Channeling the late R&B icon, Lucky Daye sprinkled some “Brown Sugar” on Music’s Biggest Night, former D’Angelo collaborators Raphael Saadiq and Anthony Hamilton joined forces to perform “Lady” and Leon Thomas, who won Best R&B Album and Best Traditional R&B Performance, served up a slice of “Devil’s Pie.”
Arguably the best D’Angelo impression came courtesy of Bilal, who put his seasoned falsetto to good use to deliver a sensual yet spiritual rendition of “Untitled (How Does It Feel).”
The posthumous spotlight then shifted to Roberta Flack, with Lauryn Hill performing a stirring cover of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” proving she’s still a natural talent in front of the mic.
From there, Leon Bridges, Jon Batiste, October London, Lalah Hathaway, John Legend and Chaka Khan hit the stage to do justice to other Flack classics like “Compared to What,” “The Closer I Get to You” and “Where is the Love.”
Another highlight of the night was Lauryn Hill reuniting with Wyclef Jean for a medley of Flack’s 1973 hit “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and the Fugees’ own version, which became an international smash in its own right in the mid ’90s.
Closing out the 2026 Grammys, the Clipse put a bow on Music’s Biggest Night with a statement performance of “So Far Ahead” that blended Christian gospel and coke rap.
The duo’s Let God Sort Em Out co-conspirator Pharrell opened the sermon with his heavenly chorus, backed by the Voices of Fire choir, before Pusha T and Malice blessed the congregration with their reflective, razor-sharp verses.
The Clipse’s debut performance at the Grammys then ended in the most perfect way possible: with fake snow falling from the sky as Push and P stunted on ’em in a mink coats.
The performance was the icing on the cake for the Virginia Beach brothers, who earlier in the night won their first-ever Grammy for Best Rap Performance thanks to “Chains & Whips,” their blistering, bars-heavy collaboration with Kendrick Lamar.
