Well, that was an interesting Grammy’s show. There were some surprise winners, a combination of both good and bad pre-recorded performances, and a new socially distanced attempt to bring everyone together. It was the first time in a few years where the big awards all went to different people, which did make it more interesting, even with there being a big missing artist that could’ve taken those awards. Before we get to the actual winners, let’s look at some of the best and worst performances of the night.
Performances:
Let’s start with the best of the night. Unsurprisingly, Anderson Paak and Bruno Mars stole the night when it came to the performances. Their duo performance of their new single under the name Silk Sonic was easily one of the best pre-recorded performances. It was fairly straightforward and paid homage to the 70s. They came back during the in memoriam section with a tribute to Little Richard that left everyone dancing. It looked like they were having a lot of fun and every musician in that tribute shined through beautifully.
One of the performances that surprised me was Lil Baby’s “The Bigger Picture” performance. There were a lot of theatrics, including Killer Mike doing his “walking in the snow” verse and Tamika Mallory directly addressing President Biden. It did feel a bit forced in terms of message, especially with the theatrics other than the additional musicians, but his performance himself was pretty cool. This performance definitely doesn’t live up to the level of Kendrick’s 2016 show (which has been almost completely scrubbed from the internet), but it was still one of the best of the night for the song itself.
There were some other noteworthy performances as well. Billie Eilish and Finneas always have quality performances and their stripped back take on “Everything I Wanted” continues the trend. HAIM could’ve done something a bit different for the big stage, but they still had a really good straightforward performance of “The Steps”. Taylor had a nice, clear-cut performance as well, even if the pre-recorded aspect was annoying for this one. The costuming for Doja Cat’s performance of “Say So” was easily the best of the night, and she sounded decent too. BTS had one of the best uses of a pre-recorded performance with them making their way onto the rooftop throughout it.
As for the bad performances, I’m not sure there were any that were actually bad. There were quite a few that had elements that were bad, but none were overall frustrating to watch. The attempt to add a choir and strings to “Rockstar” by Dababy was a failed experiment. I’ve never been a fan of the traditional pop singers who try to dance, and Dua Lipa is not a good enough dancer to justify all of the choreography. Her performance was objectively pretty good, it’s just in a style that I don’t really prefer. The trio of country performances and the Black Pumas performance all do the minimum when it comes to performing, but are passable background songs instead of the instant earworms they should’ve been. Now, let’s look at the actual winners themselves, starting out with the big 4 awards.
Awards:
The last award presented was for Record of the Year and that went to Billie Eilish for her 2019 single “Everything I Wanted”. Considering this is supposed to be for the best produced song, this pick is a bit weird. In my opinion, the production is the worst part of the song, especially with how muted and generic it is. Either the “Savage” Remix, “Black Parade”, or “Don’t Start Now” would’ve been a better pick. And I’ll mention it now since he could’ve won all of these, “Blinding Lights” could’ve easily beat all of those songs. Even Billie herself knows she shouldn’t have won the award, as most of her speech was apologizing to Megan. It marks the third time in the past seven years where a white artist was on stage accepting an award while saying that a Black artist deserved it more. I’m not sure what to make of it as of now, but it’s maybe something to write about another time.
Album of the Year was the weirdest and worst nominated category in a long time, and judging by how many weird picks were happening earlier in the day, I was worried it was going to go to one of the bad picks. Instead, Taylor Swift got her third album of the year award and probably the first one that’s 100% deserved. Looking at it in a vacuum, Folklore is one of the three good albums nominated this year, so it’s a good thing that it won. But looking at her career and seeing that she’s won this award three times in eleven years, it feels like too many times for how impactful or better her music is.
Song of the Year was a surprise this year that ended up going to H.E.R’s protest song “I Can’t Breathe”. It was one of the smallest songs up there, but H.E.R is becoming one of R&B’s most popular names. “Damage” is becoming a radio staple, but this song had less than 850,000 views when it won and now has over 1,150,000 views. I’m glad that this song ended up winning, especially since “Blinding Lights” was left out. It encapsulates all the frustration that was felt during this summer and she even brings on a powerful rap verse to end the track. She goes straight for the throats on that track directing it to people who still aren’t pushing for change, “Media perception is forced down the throats of closed minds. So it lies in the headlines, and generations of supremacy resulting in your ignorant, privileged eyes.” This was one where it seems like they took a little bit of a chance and I’m glad that H.E.R. got an award with this track.
The last award of the big four is the Best New Artist and it went to Megan Thee Stallion. This wasn’t a surprise at all, even with some other good nominees. Phoebe Bridgers, Kaytranada, D Smoke, Chika, and Doja Cat all make good music, but only Doja stood even close to Megan in terms of popularity. Megan also got both the Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for her “Savage” Remix with Beyonce and even with all the hate online, I still think Megan deserved these awards. The “Savage” Remix is easily one of the best in these two categories and Megan came across as one of the most authentic people during her speeches.
Speaking of the “Savage” Remix, Beyonce came away as the big winner last night with four awards, including deservedly winning Best Music Video for “Brown Skin Girl” and Best R&B Performance for “Black Parade”. These four wins made her the most awarded female in the history of the Grammys, which is both amazing and feels very performative. In her 28 wins, she’s only ever won one of the big four awards. If you take the other two current day hip hop and R&B icons near her level of Grammys (Jay Z and Kanye), these three have combined for 229 nominations and 74 Grammys, but only 1 out of the 74 was for a general category. If you look at the three winning-est white artists (non classical), which are U2, Bruce Springsteen, and Alison Krauss, they have combined for 140 nominations and 69 victories. 11 of the 69 victories have been in general categories. That's 16% of the victories are in the general categories for the white artists and just over 1% for the Black artists. Black artists have constantly been relegated to the genre categories and even legends like Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Kanye can’t break the curse. It’s been a problem as long as the Grammys have been a thing, and it’s not getting better. Even newcomer Kendrick Lamar has been nominated 37 times, won 13 of them, and none have been in the general category. So the Grammys being annoyingly upfront about Beyonce’s record breaking award is just for performance, as they’ve denied her and other Black artists over and over and over again for general categories.
The rest of the R&B categories had some expected results and some surprising results. John Legend won Best R&B Album with Bigger Love, which makes sense considering he’s multiple levels of popularity ahead of everyone else in that category. But on the surprising side, Thundercat won his first solo Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album with his 2020 opus It Is What It Is. Best R&B Song did go to my personal least favorite of the five, but “Better Than I Imagined” is still a great song and I’m glad to see Robert Glasper get recognized for his work. There were also two other hip hop awards, one being Anderson Paak winning for Best Melodic Rap Performance with his 2020 state-of-affairs track “Lockdown”. Nas also one his first Grammy for Best Rap Album with his Hit-Boy collaboration King’s Disease. I do wish that Freddie Gibbs won since he put out a much better album, but I suppose Nas should probably have a Grammy after 25 years of rapping at his level.
The rock section had a lot of great nominees to pick from and it seems like they picked some really great winners for all the categories. Fiona Apple won two Grammys for Best Rock Performance and Best Alternative Album, each of those are definitely a deserved win. Best Rock Song did go to Brittany Howard for her 2019 hit “Stay High”, which was always a good pick, but that category was also strong enough for any song to win. I was also glad to see that The Strokes won for Best Rock Album for The New Abnormal, which I just learned is their first Grammy. I do wish Poppy won for Best Metal Performance for “Bloodmoney”, but it’s also really cool that she was the first female artist ever nominated for that award.
The pop section was interesting this year. Harry Styles won for Best Pop Solo Performance with “Watermelon Sugar”, a track I personally tend to think is a bit meh, but the rest of the nominations weren’t very good either. But looking at the other nominees, it’s yet another example where “Blinding Lights” would’ve demolished everything else here. Best Pop Vocal Album went to Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia and even though I didn’t love the album like most people, I’m glad she got something. It’s rare to see a pure dance pop album with almost no fluff, so good for her. Lady Gaga did end up getting one with Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Rain On Me” with Ariana Grande. I do wish it went to Taylor Swift and Bon Iver’s incredibly beautiful “exile”, which is a sentence I never thought I would say before 2020.
The electronic section also had some good moments too, mainly because Kaytranada won both of the awards. For the Best Dance Recording, it was “10%” with vocals from Kali Uchis, which is also her first Grammy. Kaytranada won Best Dance/Electronic Album with 2019’s vibe Bubba. He was not only the first Black person to win awards in these categories, but also the first gay person to win either of these awards. Neither the album or his song are the best things Kaytranada or Kali Uchis have ever done, but each of them are really enjoyable and I’m glad the awards went to some nice people.
The rest of the Grammys were about as expected. Jacob Collier won a technical award, Dev Hynes and Kamasi Washington lost their jazz and classical categories, and Billie won for Best Song Written For Visual Media for her James Bond theme. I do really wish that Phoebe Bridgers was able to get something, but all of her categories were pretty tough. Overall, it was another interesting year that has people both rightfully angry and unfairly angry at usual inconveniences. The actual quality of the performance was good, but it really feels once again like the Grammys relevance is waning. Either way, it’s something I find fun to think and get irrationally angry about and even though most people have stopped watching by now, I’m sure I’ll continue to tune in.
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