The Grammy’s, who cares?

The world has turned to awards season again. As a purveyor of popular culture, I tend to pay attention to these things, even if it’s out of morbid curiosity more than anything else. There’s nothing like seeing a bunch of millionaires patting each other on the back for their accomplishments. Generally speaking, I give a fair amount of credibility to the Academy Awards, who seem to have a pulse on good film. The Grammy’s, on the other hand, are consistently of touch with the vast amount of good music that gets released every year, settled on nominating the low hanging fruit from the Billboard Top 100. Although they do occasionally give credit to lesser-known talents (remember that one time Norma Jean got nominated for a Grammy for the artwork and packaging on O’ God the Aftermath? Wild!)

I honestly don’t know how their clandestine nominating system works. It seems like a secret society, run by label execs who don’t actually listen to the artists they sign. It’s sort of like when you show up to vote for the President and realize you also need to vote for local candidates, most of whom you don’t have any idea of their platform. So rather than do the research, you instead pick the most recognizable names. That’s most Grammy nominations in a nutshell.

As an example, look no further than the coveted Album of the Year category nominees: Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Billy Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X, H.E.R., and Jon Bastiste. Aside from H.E.R. (who seems to get nominated every year for some Grammy or another) and Jon Batiste, both of whom legitimately put out great albums last year, the rest represent the current branding in popular music.

If I were to ask my 73 year-old-mother who does not listen to music (new or otherwise) to name some current popular artists off the top off her head, these are the people she would be able to name. Which is to say, it doesn’t really matter if Billy Eilish put out a good album last year, she’s a known quantity and is going to be nominated whether she deserves it or not.

But as the old saying “even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while” and the Grammy’s are no exception, as several well-deserving artists won their categories. And so, to save you the trouble of scanning through the entire list and scratching your head or shuddering in horror, I’ve listed 5 artists who definitely deserved their award. And tune in soon for 5 Dumpster Fire Winners who deserve the musical version of the Razzies. *Spoiler alert: 3 of the 5 go to Kanye for his very mediocre Donda.

Deserving Winners:

Best R&B Album: Jazmine Sullivan-Heaux Tales

This category was easily the most reputable of the bunch with a very solid lineup of nominees, including H.E.R., neo-soul artist Leon Bridges, and Album of the Year winner Jon Batiste. But Jazmine Sullivan clearly led the pack, with her female-empowering collection of stories. Heaux Tales makes callbacks to the legends who have come before while also moving the genre forward (like Janelle Monae before her). This album was not just best R&B album of 2021 but one of the overall best albums released last year.

Best Rap Album: Tyler the Creator-Call Me if You Get Lost

To start off, rap was done dirty this year. The competition in this category was largely lackluster. Kanye West’s Donda was middle of the road (more on that later) and J. Cole’s The Off-Season was fine. Nas was nominated for King’s Disease II, which was a good release, but he won last year for King’s Disease so this nomination feels more perfunctory than anything else.

Listen, I’ve come to terms with the fact that underground rap will never make an appearance in this category, but they could have at least picked some better mainstream releases. If the awards committee was looking only to give nominations to big name artists, Common put out a great album that wasn’t nominated (A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 2). And if they were at all interested in representing newer artists or even styles, G. Herbo put out a fantastic drill album with 25.  The only thing we can be grateful for is that Certified Lover Boy (Drake) didn’t make the cut.

All of that being said, Call Me When You Get Lost was hands-down the best hip-hop album to come out in 2021. Tyler is constantly reinventing himself into a more sensitive and creative artist and in doing so is challenging so much of the machoism that pervades the genre. Of course, Lumberjack is one of the hardest hitting tracks of last year, so nobody could accuse Tyler of going soft. Read my review of Call Me If You Get Lost last year if you want a full write-up on the genius album.

Best Song Written for Visual Media: Bo Burnham-“All Eyes on Me”

I’m not a Bo Burnham stan, but Inside was one of the best parts of the pandemic for me. It captured so much of the grief, anxiety, fear, depression, and mania that went with a year of being isolated from friends, family, and loved ones for fear of either getting sick or getting others sick. “All Eyes on Me” is the culmination of the album’s themes and was my track of the year by far. It tells the story of Burnham giving up comedy due to panic attacks and when finally ready to start performing again in January of 2020, in his own words, “well, the funniest thing happened…”

In my own life, my son was born on February 19^th of 2020. At the point when my wife had recovered enough from the physical trauma of childbirth that we were ready to go out and see people, well the funniest thing happened…

The song is touching, it’s heartbreaking, and it’s a certified banger. I don’t know if Bo Burnham realized he was writing a genuine pop classic, but the world is better for it.                                                                                                                                                                           `

Best Remixed Recording: Mike Shinoda-“Passenger”

To celebrate the 21^st anniversary of Deftones landmark album White Pony, the band invited various producers to remix the 12 tracks into both a loving homage and new vision, titled Black Stallion. Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park remixed “Passenger,” the haunting track featuring a duet from Chino Moreno and Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, and makes it new and interesting. A weird entry into a weird category for sure (seriously, who would’ve thought 20+ years after the fact that Linkin Park and Deftones would collaborate to win a Grammy), I’m glad that remixes are getting recognized as a legitimate musical artform.

Best Music Film: Summer of Soul

Please, give Questlove his EGOT. He’s already halfway there with an Academy Award and a Grammy from this film (in addition to his other Grammy’s). If he could get a Broadway Revue of Summer of Soul to win a Tony and pick up an Emmy for most tolerable part of The Tonight Show, then the EGOT crew would be recognizing a true legend into their ranks.

Questlove did the Lord’s work in bringing an important, lost part of black history into the public eye. In the same summer as Woodstock, the free Harlem Culture Festival managed to bring together an incredible cadre of artists including Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, BB King, and Nina Simone (among many, many others). It united the black community at a time when times were extremely difficult and was an important snapshot into the history of our nation.

A great deal of the event was filmed, but in spite of the success of the movie Woodstock, film companies were not interested in giving the same spotlight to primarily African-American and Puerto Rican musicians. And so the film reels were buried for 50 years, until Questlove uncovered them and created something magical. The footage unbelievable, and the interviews with artists seeing their performances for the very first time is so moving. This is a film to be watched and treasured. 

Honorable Mention: Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters swept the Rock categories at the Grammys with Best Rock Performance “Making a Fire,” Best Rock Song “Waiting on a War,” and Best Rock Album Medicine at Midnight. That this follows shortly after the tragic death of longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins makes these wins all the more bitter-sweet.

Now, I don’t think Medicine at Midnight is the best Rock Album of last year. It’s certainly not the Foo’s best release. But as we’ve already established, the pool of nominees is picked as a popularity contest of recognizable names, and I’m glad to see some recognition thrown at the Foo’s.  They are a workhorse band who consistently puts out rock solid releases, and although Dave Grohl is the face of Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins is equally as critical to the sound of the band. Unfortunately, Medicine at Midnight was going up at Paul McCartney, a posthumously released Chris Cornell album, and a live recording by Black Pumas (who are quickly becoming Grammy go-to’s), so the competition wasn’t exactly stiff. Still, they deserve all the credit in the world and I for one will not begrudge them these honors. Taylor Hawkins, Rest in Power.

Wrapping-It-Up

Alright there you have it, my pick of 5 artists who deserved their awards. Agree? Disagree? Be sure to comment below. And stay tuned for my list of “5 Dumpster-Fire Winners,” artist choices that are so preposterous that I can only assume they were chosen by throwing darts blindfolded.