If you happen to follow music websites or blogs on social media, you might have noticed that early February is a particularly eventful part of the year. Obviously, the first few decent releases start surfacing, but inevitably, every year, early February is mostly an exhibition on pre- and post-Grammy hype and hate. And every year, you can be sure to read at least a dozen comments saying how much the Grammys suck. Well, if you didn’t agree with that (like us), this year was probably a game changer; and if you did, then Sunday’s ceremony only proved the Recording Academy hit a new low.
In case you missed it, Adele cleaned up: she won for both Record and Album of the year, which are considered to be the most important awards of the night, and that was kind of expected. The deeply unfair part, however, was the fact that she upset Beyoncé in both of those categories, with an album that was actually released in 2015; but we’ll let that slide.
So, a white, mainstream commercial artist stole the night. Fine. We knew that would happen; it always does: in 2013, Mumford and Sons got the nod for best album rather than Frank Ocean, the next year, Daft Punk beat Kendrick Lamar, then Beck beat Beyoncé (he actually deserved it, though), and last year, Taylor Swift upset Kendrick Lamar. See the pattern? Right. However, as alarming and troubling as that may be, it isn’t the main focus of this article. Of course, the voting committee, which consists in great part of politically motivated caucasian male baby-boomers, should be addressed, but let’s not make it about race this time.
This time, let’s rather focus of the format of the ceremony; which is at the root of all its failures and shortcomings.
Let’s face it: the Grammys’ target audience are probably North American 12 year-old girls.
Sure, Sunday’s performers included Metallica, but their raw-ness had to be diluted by Lady Gaga and a muted microphone… Now, Gaga’s feature was actually pretty cool, but the quality of her performance isn’t the problem: what’s dragging the Grammys down is the fact that within the 3-hour televised ceremony, most genres aren’t represented. In fact, it’s all bubblegum pop, top 40 and, well, country because… America. It seems like all the most interesting categories (Alternative, Traditional RnB, Rock, Comedy, Classical, Producer, etc.) are only acknowledge behind the scenes, during the non-televised pre-ceremony.
In 2017, Music’s biggest night can’t afford to have Chance The Rapper and Anderson .Paak as silver linings… Those guys should be the main acts. (We’re still wondering why they had Solange introduce A Tribe Called Quest instead of her performing). And with so much non-top 40 music being so accessible today through the vinyl revival and streaming platforms, it’s about time the nominees included performers that are slightly less commercial. Sure, we’re a long way from having Bandcamp artists filling the seats of the Staples Center; but maybe just maybe producers, singers and musicians who actually deserve those awards can one day hold their own golden gramophone.
After all, the Grammys are supposed to honour the best in the industry. In fact, the awards themselves are titled “best new artist”, “best pop vocal album”, “best rap song”, etc. It is thus an issue of distinguishing the actual “best” from the “most popular”, here lies crucial difference that the Recording Academy obviously can’t make.
Instead of booking huge names like Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, and Bruno Mars, maybe turn to Grimes, Whitney, and Childish Gambino, or even foreign artists, just for the sake of encouraging music discovery… (oh yeah, and stop antagonizing Frank Ocean).
Listen, Chance The Rapper’s wins on Sunday were great victories for Independent music, but this shouldn’t be an isolated case. We get that the current format might seem like the more viable option from a financial standpoint; but by gradually adding less-known, often more deserving, artists, a new audience, other than 12 year-old girls (who, by the way, probably can’t watch the full ceremony due to early curfew) might grow. Of course, being less famous doesn’t necessarily mean more deserving of a Grammy award, but let’s face it, 25 doesn’t even compare to an album like The Colour Anything, for instance.
The Grammys have always been reaching for a certain reputation, one that portrays them as an all-in organization when it comes to the advancement and evolution of music and the music industry. But right now, they seem to be stalling it, always showing the same things year after year, and slowly falling into obsolescence. The number of artists and average Joes boycotting the ceremony due to its “lack of relevance” keeps on growing, and it’s time for the academy to act.
Relevance won’t come through having James Corden replace LL Cool J as host, nominees lists drafted by Billboard, (Adele’s pathetic acceptance speeches), and an overall shift towards being a social media driven event. It’s about increasing variety, in terms of genres, lyrics, musical themes, recording and production techniques, language and everything else.
It’s about making the Grammys great again.