A Promising Grammys Falls Short, Yet Again
There was much new territory charted for the 60th Grammys place last night, and yet, at the end, so much about the premier musical awards felt disappointingly familiar.
Despite cries to the contrary-- from people who likely think the Grammys are an award ceremony strictly for Meryl Streep --this ceremony has never been a very politically-fueled show. You may feel one way or another about that fact, but it's a trend of award shows now that the Music industry, which of course is much larger not isolated to Hollywood, has not exactly replicated. In other words, you would not often see the politically-progressive 'stump' acceptance speeches that are increasingly commonplace in the Emmys and especially Oscars. Same goes for performances: Kendrick Lamar's epic medley in the 2016 Grammys harkened back to the issue of mass incarceration, and Katy Perry's tribute the year prior was dedicated to women who were victims of domestic violence, but both performances, while meaningful, only tangentially touched on the political significance involved.
By that measure, last night's Grammys were some of the more outwardly political, perhaps in all of recent history. The proceedings began with an absolutely jaw-dropping performance from Lamar; an instant 'one for the ages' not just because of the absurdly entertaining and talent-fueled showmanship, but also because of how daring it was, thematically. Opening with lines from the American-explication track "XXX", against an American flag backdrop, Kendrick went on to address the inherence of a black man in the USA with lines from "DNA.", then rap furiously about oppression with bars from his new single "King's Dead." All of this came with intercessions from U2-- asserting "It's not a place...this country is to me a thought that offers grace, for every welcome that is sought" and comedian Dave Chappelle-- who reminded the audience that "the only thing more frightening than watching a black man be honest in America is being an honest black man in America" --and culminated in....well, why am I still talking about it? Watch it. Watch it now.
Later in the show, the aforementioned U2 also gave a live, American-flag-megaphoned performance of their own- on a barge in front of the Statue Of Liberty, after the words of Lady Liberty were read aloud by pop star Camila Cabello. Cabello herself had just given a pro-DREAM and pro-immigrant preamble, and was a part of another major Grammys moment, as she and other women sang behind Kesha as the latter emoted through her song "Praying," a heartbreaking testimonial and anthem for the #TimesUp movement.
All of that being said, the Grammys as a whole still seemed nervous to jump headlong into any political movement. Bruno Mars, eventual king of the night (more on that soon), at one point asked his song to be played again because "we've had too many ballads, right?", evidently oblivious to the fact that those ballads were a. tribute songs to deceased artists, b. testimony of a gay man's struggle with his faith and world politics, and c. protest songs against the treatment of a woman and the USA. More egregiously, for all the posturing, the Grammys themselves did a horrible job of representation. The bombshell story that emerged from the awards was that rising pop sensation Lorde, who was nominated for Album Of The Year, was inexplicably not invited to perform, while all the nominated male artists were (though Jay-Z declined). To make matters worse, a tone-deaf (literally and metaphorically) Grammys president Neil Portnow said after the show that women needed “to step up” if they wanted more equal representation in the awards.
That's to say nothing of the continued repression of black artists, which brings us to the other unforgivable aspect of these awards: the winners, yet again. The night started so promisingly on this front. Lamar followed up his mind-blowing performance by sweeping the Rap awards (Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "LOYALTY.", Best Rap Song for "HUMBLE.", Best Rap Album for DAMN.) Talented and always-humble pop artist Alessia Cara won Best New Artist, and gave a gracious speech encouraging support of struggling, little-known musical artists. In un-televised awards, there were pleasant surprises as the voters forsook sentimentality and name-recognition by giving deserving Grammys to "HUMBLE." for Best Music Video, The National's Sleep Well Beast for Best Alternative Album, and Chris Stapleton's From A Room: Vol. 1 for Best Country Album.
Yet, as the night went on, the charm wore off, as pop celebrity and name recognition started to once again, rule all. Best Urban Contemporary Album comically went to The Weeknd's Starboy over gamechangers like Childish Gambino's "Awaken, My Love!", SZA's Ctrl and Khalid's American Teen. Ed Sheeran swept Pop awards, winning Best Solo Peformance for "Shape Of You", and Best Pop Album for ÷. Sheeran's work was undoubtedly the biggest of the bunch, but in both awards beat out all female nominees with much more acclaimed albums and songs to their name.
This, predictably, culminated with the biggest awards of the night going to Bruno Mars, a safe pop star, whose energy and croons offer cross-generational appeal. Mars swept Record Of The Year (for "24K Magic"), Song Of The Year (for "That's What I Like"), AND Album Of The Year (for 24K Magic). This marked the second consecutive year of the same artist winning all 3, as Adele was the recipient of the honor in 2017. Mars was a gracious winner, but unlike Adele last year, he did not see fit to assert that another nominee-- Lamar, perhaps --deserved that Grammy more. No offense to him, but he probably should have.
DAMN., Melodrama (Lorde) and 4:44 (Jay-Z) were all better critically reviewed than Mars' work, and DAMN. also outsold 24K Magic. However, the Grammys' legacy of shutting out Rap/Hip-Hop proved to be too much to overcome, as it turns out (the last and only time a Rap album has won Album Of The Year was Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2004).
This is all to say nothing of the complete shutouts of Jay-Z, who had a remarkable renaissance this year, and SZA, likely the hottest new name in music. The former pitched an 0-for-8, losing most of his nominations to fellow rapper Lamar, despite being recognized by the Grammys as a music icon 2 nights prior. For the record: I love Kendrick Lamar, and DAMN. was the strongest nominee, but I would have been elated to see Jay's "Family Feud" win Best Rap/Sung, and "4:44" to win Best Rap Song and Song Of The Year. SZA's loss to Cara for Best New Artist wasn't egregious, but certainly was undeserved, and some other losses, such as in Best Urban Contemporary were laughable.
So yes, all of the positive, forward-thinking vibes aside, there emerged a familiar result. Stunningly, the most-acclaimed album in each of the last 6 years of Grammy nominees has been by a black artist, and in each case was nominated for Album Of The Year. Yet, each time that album has lost. Frank Ocean's channel ORANGE to Mumford and Sons in 2013, Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid, M.A.A.D City to Daft Punk in 2014, Beyonce's BEYONCE to Beck in 2015, Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly to Taylor Swift in 2016, Beyoncé's Lemonade to Adele last year, and now, Lamar's DAMN. to Bruno Mars. That's an uncanny streak of defeats. "But Daniel," you protest, seeing the names of the last 3 years, "this just means the Grammys reward the biggest, not the best." How then, can one explain Beyoncé not winning either of the years she had the most acclaimed work, or Lamar, who has firmly planted himself as the biggest rapper in the game right now, not winning this year? "Fair," you say, "maybe for this category, they really try to go for the more up-and-coming indie artists." To which I would point to 'kings of the 90s' Daft Punk and Beck beating Beyoncé, and radio-dominating Mumford, Taylor Swift and Bruno winning in the other years.
It's not an accusation of racism on an individual level; it's pointing out the painfully obvious fact that the only consistent streak in those rewarded in the General awards is that they are not black, and certainly not Rap or Hip-Hop.
Sooner or later, the Grammys will need a voter base that is either younger or at least willing to adapt to the music of the times; otherwise, they run the risk of unquestionably losing their self-bestowed moniker of being "music's biggest night."