Reaction: 61st Annual Grammy Awards

At the 61^st Annual Grammy Awards, there were some truly triumphant winners (Childish Gambino), as well as some less deserving or undeserving ones (Beck).

Ah The Grammys – always filled with questionable winners from my perspective.  To be fair, the 61^st Annual Grammy Awards had its fair share of positive moments when it came to Grammy recipients.  Still, there were some bizarre, bothersome, or questionable honors bestowed on those who shouldn’t have won.  Let’s analyze the good, the bad, and the ugly of the 61^st Annual Grammy Awards winners.

Record & Song of the Year

The Grammys got both Record of the Year and Song of the Year right in my eyes.  Childish Gambino (“This is America”) managed to make an awesome rap song in 2018 that is much more transcendent than its lyrics might suggest.  Rap has missed out on these categories far too  the four most prestigious categories.  I did feel a bit bad for Brandi Carlile coming up short for “The Joke”, but in my eyes, the Childish Gambino record is the more innovative of the two.

Album of the Year

Keeping it 100, Album of the Year was a total letdown, and that’s no disrespect to Kacey Musgraves, who had a fine contemporary country album with Golden Hour.  Still, for the continual progression that the Recording Academy has shown in recent years, particularly this year with big wins for Childish Gambino and Cardi B (Invasion of Privacy), this feels like the same old safe Recording Academy.  Honestly, wasn’t the Bruno Mars win at the 60^th Annual Grammy Awards (24K Magic) more progressive? The fitting ending definitely would’ve been to award the best of album of 2018 in my eyes, Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer. If that was too progressive, how about the more socially-charged By the Way, I Forgive You by Brandi Carlile?

 Best New Artist

Hmm, I didn’t have much preference in this particular Best New Artist category.  The Dua Lipa win is totally acceptable.  Next.

Pop

With the pop field, there is one issue.  Best Pop Solo Performance should’ve given Ariana Grande her second career Grammy win for “God is a Woman” as opposed to awarding Lady Gaga for “Joanna (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’).” Gaga winning for her duet with Bradley Cooper, “Shallow” (A Star Is Born) is more fitting.  Also, worth noting, Gaga, alongside writers Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, and  Andrew Wyatt won for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

Furthermore, “Shallow” beat out annoying tunes like “Girls Like You” (ugh) and “The Middle” (also ugh).  At least Grande did manage her first career Grammy for Sweetener, the best album of the pop vocal album nominees.

Rock & Alternative 

Rock has been a suspect field for years at this point.  If you’re a fan of posthumous awards, you’ll be onboard with Chris Cornell winning Best Rock Performance for “When Bad Does Good.”  Still, how awesome would it have been if Arctic Monkeys have come out on top for the quirky but incredibly satisfying “Four Out of Five” from Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino? St. Vincent (Annie Clark) won another Grammy, this time for Best Rock Song (“Masseduction”). It’s not objectionable, but Ghost’s “Rats” is a damn good song too… just saying.

While Rock Performance and Rock Song are debatable, the biggest faux pas come with the album wins – ugh. Greta Van Fleet (From the Fires) seriously beats out Ghost (Prequelle) for Best Rock Album? Really? Beck (Colors) beats out strong competition from Arctic Monkeys (Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino), Björk (Utopia), St. Vincent (MASSEDUCTION), and David Byrne (American Utopia).  I am a Beck fan, but much like the Morning Phase win for Album of the Year a couple of years ago, I don’t agree.

R&B

R&B is another category that has been questionable over recent years.  H.E.R. rightfully took home awards for Best R&B Performance (“Best Part” featuring Daniel Caesar) and Best R&B Album (H.E.R.).  Also, you have to be happy that Leon Bridges was victorious in the Best Traditional R&B Performance category with the stellar “Bet Ain’t Worth the Hand”, tying with a great cover of “How Deep is Your Love” by PJ Morton (featuring Yebba).  Also, Ella Mai gets into the Grammy action for Best R&B Song for “Boo’d Up” – totally fine with that.  The Carters come out on top with Everything is Love, which beat out a very compelling Miguel album (War & Leisure) for Best Urban Contemporary Album.  Debatable, but no major qualms here.

Rap

Rap is among the most buzzed-about fields at the Grammys in recent times.  A pleasant surprise was the tie for Best Rap Performance with the superb “King’s Dead” (Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Future & James Blake) and “Bubblin” (Anderson .Paak).  That said, the three non-winners were all strong, particularly the wild “Sicko Mode” (Travis Scott featuring Drake, Big Hawk & Swae Lee).  No surprise that “This is America” won Best Rap/Sung Performance, nor is it that shocking that “God’s Plan” won for Best Rap Song.  Of course, an argument can be made for “Sicko Mode” once more.  Also, give props to Cardi B for becoming the first female rapper to win the male-dominated Best Rap Album category.

Country

Kacey Musgraves dominated the country field.  This is not surprising.  Her biggest competition was Chris Stapleton, who has become a favorite of the Recording Academy.  Not this year though, as Musgraves beat out Stapleton for Country Solo Performance (“Butterflies”), and Country Album (Golden Hour).  Musgraves also won for Best Country Song (“Space Cowboy”) – can’t argue with that one.  Only one other country duo came out with a Grammy in the country field – Dan and Shay for “Tequila.”

Other Notes

Cécile McLorin Salvant adds another Grammy to her collection with The Window – any one surprised? Tori Kelly earns her first two Grammy wins for Best Gospel Performance/Song (“Never Alone” featuring Kirk Franklin) and Best Gospel Album (Hiding Place). Lauren Daigle also comes out with two wins for Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song (“You Say”) and Best Contemporary Christian Music Album (Look Up Child).  Brandi Carlile, expectedly ‘cleans up’ in the Americana categories, winning Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song (“The Joke”), as well as Best Americana Album (By the Way, I Forgive You).

Photo Credits: Republic, MCA Nashville, RCA, Elektra, Interscope, Columbia, Capitol