Drake was humiliated
It’s the kind of stress dream that pop stars tell their therapists about: “My artistic rival won record and song of the year at the Grammys for a track attacking me, and everyone was dancing and singing along. Even Beyoncé.” And so it came to pass for Drake, seeing Kendrick Lamar win for Not Like Us, walking to the podium in double denim – a “Canadian tuxedo”, no less – while half the arena seemed to chant “tryna strike a chord and it’s probably a minor”, a line alleging child sexual abuse (which Drake has strenuously denied). Drake has long framed the Grammys as somewhere that doesn’t understand rap music and he had already distanced himself from the awards – and perhaps that turned Recording Academy voters against him all the more. But these were deserved wins for Lamar – the beef allowed him to turn his lens away from himself, and in so doing made a very 21st-century entertainment: gossipy, networked, and packed with reference. Meanwhile, having seen the entire industry united in celebration against him makes you wonder anew: where next for Drake?
Chappell Roan called for workers’ rights …
For all her playfulness on stage and on record, there’s also a seriousness of intent to Chappell Roan: part of the reason she’s so loved is that she totally devotes herself to her craft, selling every line she sings. That’s played out in her earnest politics, too, whether upbraiding a hectoring paparazzo, fretting about who to back (if anyone) in the US presidential race, and championing the rights of queer people and Palestinians. At the Grammys, she used the platform of a best new artist win to advocate for workers’ rights, namely her fellow musicians, with a “demand that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists offer a livable wage and healthcare, especially to developing artists.” She spoke of struggling to afford health insurance in her early career, saying: “It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and so dehumanised to not have health[care]. If my label would have prioritised artists’ health, I could have been provided care by a company I was giving everything to … Labels, we got you, but do you got us?”
… and Lady Gaga for trans rights
As Donald Trump enshrines transphobia in American law, Lady Gaga spoke out, saying: “Trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up.” She was speaking after winning best pop duo/group performance for Die With a Smile, with Bruno Mars.
Doechii capped her breakthrough year …
Twenty-six-year-old rapper Doechii beat some of the most venerable, successful and respected MCs in the US – Eminem, Future, J Cole and the paired-up Common and Pete Rock – to win best rap album, only the third woman to win this category after Lauryn Hill and Cardi B. This caps a stunning breakthrough over the past year, with jaws floored by the emphatically enunciated, elastically rhythmic raps on her album Alligator Bites Don’t Heal, and then again by performances such as on Stephen Colbert’s talkshow, her braided hair fused to that of her dancers. Her performance on the Grammys’ stage was even stronger, a brilliantly choreographed strut through Denial Is a River where – with some expert help from her DJ, Miss Milan – she kept her flow going through high kicks, trust falls and a suit-busting bikini reveal.
… as did Sierra Ferrell
With her fourth album, Ferrell made a clean sweep of the roots and Americana categories, winning all four of the awards she was nominated for (in a less brutally competitive year, she would have got a best new artist nomination too). Dressed in one of the night’s wackier outfits – think East End pearly queen after five rounds of AI enhancement, complete with sceptre – she’s travelled a long way from the trailer-dwelling and freight train-hopping of her youth, to become a multimillion-streaming performer. As country and pop do-si-do ever more tightly, Ferrell, Zach Bryan and more are winning millions of fans drawn to a more authentic and analogue-sounding version of this vintage American music.
Beyoncé finally won album of the year
She may have been the most-awarded star in history, but given the industry places such stock in the album format, Beyoncé not winning that category felt like a big snub – particularly given Lemonade lost to Beck’s Morning Phase (not remotely the best album that year or in his own catalogue), while her great masterpiece 4 wasn’t even nominated. So that wrong has now been righted. Some may be dismayed that it took a country album to do it, rather than an R&B, pop or dance record – and Cowboy Carter has plenty of longueurs and even outright missteps. But it also contains some of Beyoncé’s most imaginative and beautiful music – the way Riverdance flows into II Hands II Heaven makes it the loveliest brace of songs on an album in her catalogue. Its bigger win in some ways is best country album, showing that Beyoncé has convinced not just the broad pool of voters in the general field categories, but also the Nashville establishment who vote for the country awards.
An American won best global music album
Matt B, a little-streamed musician born and raised in Illinois and based in the US, beat representatives from Spain (Antonio Rey), Peru (Ciro Hurtado), and Nigeria (superstars Tems and Rema) to win best global music album for Alkebulan II, recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. His album certainly creates a global dialogue, as he explores his African heritage with multilingual lyrics, lilting Afro-pop, and guests such as South African poet Nomfundo Khambule. But as the US enters its protectionist era under Trump, there may be some disquiet at this win.
A multimillionare businesswoman won best new age album
It’s a shame that the great Ryuichi Sakamoto, the Japanese musician who died of cancer aged 71 in 2023 having changed the face of his country’s popular music, wasn’t honoured in the category for best new age, ambient or chant album. His nominated LP Opus was full of his very particular piano style, full of chords that feel cautious and yet intentional, and where sentimentality is offset by chalky, dissonant notes. Instead, he lost to the little-heard Triveni by Wouter Kellerman, Eru Matsumoto and Chandrika Tandon, the latter a businesswoman and philanthropist (and sister of former Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi) who worked for McKinsey before starting her own financial services firm.
The Academy still loves Chris Stapleton
He lost to Beyoncé in the country album category, but Stapleton notched up his fifth win in 10 years in the best country solo performance category, a mark of how much the country-voting portion of the Recording Academy adores this artist, who pleases both staunch traditionalists while being relatively progressive – that’s 11 wins overall for him now. It’s a shame, though, that he won with a low-stakes ballad from the same album as his win last year, while shutting out Shaboozey’s pop culturally dominant A Bar Song (Tipsy) in the process.
Chris Brown was awarded
Way after his notorious assault on Rihanna, Chris Brown has been accused of a long list of crimes against numerous women over the years, which he has denied – last week he sued over how he was represented in a new documentary, with lawyers saying: “Mr Brown has never been found guilty of any sex related crime … but this documentary states in every available fashion that he is a serial rapist and sexual abuser.” His win for best R&B album, over a big breakthrough by Muni Long and another veteran in Usher, plus others, shows that he still has his backers in the Recording Academy. But there has been disquiet online – just as there has for Kanye West’s red carpet appearance with his wife, Bianca Censori essentially appearing nude, the latest in a series of mute, near-undressed appearances alongside him that have provoked widespread concern for her welfare.
Female artists did well – but men still dominate behind the scenes
Two of the “big four” were won by female artists, but when you look into the actual winners, they were overwhelmingly male. These awards are shared by the producers, songwriters, engineers, mixers and mastering engineers and while there is some heartening female representation – such as Idania Valencia who mastered Charli xcx’s Brat, and songwriters such as Elizabeth Lowell Boland and songwriter of the year winner Amy Allen – analysis by Akas found that only 9% of winners in the top four categories were women.
And it was a bad night for the Brits
Charli xcx was the chief British representative, and she gave an instantly viral bum-wiggling, underwear-chucking live performance of Guess on the night, but she was shut out of the big prizes, making do with dance-pop awards. And it wasn’t a great night for other Brits. Belfast’s Jordan Adetunji was beaten to the melodic rap prize by Rapsody and Erykah Badu, Raye lost out twice, while Jacob Collier’s seventh win was a minor award, for arrangement. Instead we had to rely on the Beatles and the Rolling Stones for some face-saving wins, for best rock performance and album respectively (while Sean Ono Lennon also picked up an award, for co-creating the box set release of his father’s album Mind Games).
Source: theguardian.com
