I think the Grammys are a love-hate situation for any person who listens to music. When the voters get it right, you love them. Everyone rejoices. Angels from heaven sing.
When the voters get it wrong, you can't help but want to kick stray cats and rip a room apart. This is why the Grammys were so hard on me this year. For example, why were Rihanna's and Bruno Mars' albums nominated for best of the year? I appreciate that both of these had some pretty big singles. But was either of these the album of the year? No way.
One could argue for a lot of the categories, the other nominees didn't matter because of a little-known artist named Adele. Somehow, this woman was able to bridge the gap between top 40 listeners and music snobs.
Adele totally deserved the six awards she received. She really did define 2011 with her stripped down production and soulful voice.
Now, this is a rap blog so I would be remiss not to mention the hip-hop elements of the Grammy awards. Kanye West dominated it. He ended up with Best Rap Performance, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap Album.
Much like Adele, Mr. West revitalized the rap scene after Taylorgate with his mix of high class art and old school samples. It's hard to argue with his wins, considering that he had not one, but TWO albums nominated, both of which went platinum. Unfortunately, this also bit him in the butt, because he didn't even receive an Album of the Year nomination, which was more than likely due to voters being split between My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch the Throne.
I do have a qualm with Best New Artist. In my eyes, it is difficult to effectively compare Bon Iver to J. Cole or Nicki Minaj. So why use one category for all new people? It doesn't really make sense. I'm sure all of the Bon Iver fans are happy, but that leaves the hip-hop and dubstep fans pissed.
I think the Academy does need to do something to fix this. It would make sense for them to create best artist categories for each genre. But will that happen? Doubtful. For now, I will just be happy with Adele and Kanye getting the credit they deserve.
When the voters get it wrong, you can't help but want to kick stray cats and rip a room apart. This is why the Grammys were so hard on me this year. For example, why were Rihanna's and Bruno Mars' albums nominated for best of the year? I appreciate that both of these had some pretty big singles. But was either of these the album of the year? No way.
One could argue for a lot of the categories, the other nominees didn't matter because of a little-known artist named Adele. Somehow, this woman was able to bridge the gap between top 40 listeners and music snobs.
Adele totally deserved the six awards she received. She really did define 2011 with her stripped down production and soulful voice.
Now, this is a rap blog so I would be remiss not to mention the hip-hop elements of the Grammy awards. Kanye West dominated it. He ended up with Best Rap Performance, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap Album.
Much like Adele, Mr. West revitalized the rap scene after Taylorgate with his mix of high class art and old school samples. It's hard to argue with his wins, considering that he had not one, but TWO albums nominated, both of which went platinum. Unfortunately, this also bit him in the butt, because he didn't even receive an Album of the Year nomination, which was more than likely due to voters being split between My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Watch the Throne.
I do have a qualm with Best New Artist. In my eyes, it is difficult to effectively compare Bon Iver to J. Cole or Nicki Minaj. So why use one category for all new people? It doesn't really make sense. I'm sure all of the Bon Iver fans are happy, but that leaves the hip-hop and dubstep fans pissed.
I think the Academy does need to do something to fix this. It would make sense for them to create best artist categories for each genre. But will that happen? Doubtful. For now, I will just be happy with Adele and Kanye getting the credit they deserve.
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