The Grammys, more so than pretty much any other awards show, are less about the awards than they are about the show, which is why a number of trophies (for surprisingly big categories!) are given away long before the famous people and wealthy record company executives file in and take their seats. So, even though it seems pretty early, the entire world is talking about something else this afternoon, and the Recording Academy that runs the Grammys is trying to contain a big scandal, here are the winners from the 62nd annual Grammy Awards.
The biggest winners from this weird, pre-show era were Beyoncé and Lil Nas X, with the former getting Best Music Film for Homecoming and the latter getting—what else?—Best Music Video for—what else?—“Old Town Road.” It’s already the best song of all time, according to facts, but sure, he can use another accolade. Also, Michelle Obama won Best Spoken Word Album for her Becoming audiobook, which is a slightly better honor than her husband getting on the Billboard charts with that Hamilton remix.
After a typically intense performance from Lizzo, the actual show started off with host Alicia Keys hesitantly taking the stage for a somber acknowledgment of that other news we mentioned above, specifically the sudden death of Kobe Bryant—who won a bunch of championships for the Lakers at the Staples Center, which happens to be where tonight’s Grammys were held. Keys brought out Boyz II Men to sing a bit of “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye” and then came back later for a musical monologue of sorts about the power of music and how great all of the nominees are, and then we got to the actual (sporadically distributed) awards. Lizzo added to her growing collection of Grammys, country duo Dan & Shay risked the wrath of the Swifties by thanking Scooter Braun in their speech, and then there were so many performances (with a few breaks so Billie Eilish could win awards).
Again, it’s the Grammys, which are more about the show than the awards, and the Oscars would show full movies if they could, so they might as well perform multiple full-length songs in between handing out awards. Overall, the Grammys are such a scattershot show that it’s hard to discern a real theme or narrative to the events, aside from the great unifying power of music. It’s not a bad look for the Grammys, but it does make a case for the Recording Academy to scrap this traditional format in favor of just announcing all the winners beforehand and turning the ceremony into a big musical party with no awards.
Anyway, here’s a selection of the winners and nominees, and you’ll be able to find the whole list at the Grammys website.
Record Of The Year
“Hey, Ma,” Bon Iver
“Bad Guy,” Billie Eilish
“7 Rings,” Ariana Grande
“Hard Place,” H.E.R.
“Talk,” Khalid
“Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X Featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
“Truth Hurts,” Lizzo
“Sunflower,” Post Malone & Swae Lee
Album Of The Year
I,i, Bon Iver
Norman Fucking Rockwell!, Lana Del Rey
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Billie Eilish
Thank U, Next, Ariana Grande
I Used To Know Her, H.E.R.
7, Lil Nas X
Cuz I Love You (Deluxe), Lizzo
Father Of The Bride, Vampire Weekend
Best New Artist
Black Pumas
Billie Eilish
Lil Nas X
Lizzo
Maggie Rogers
Rosalia
Tank And The Bangas
Yola
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
“Higher,” DJ Khaled ft. Nipsey Hussle & John Legend
“Drip Too Hard,” Lil Baby & Funna
“Panini,” Lil Nas X
“Ballin,” Mustard ft. Roddy Ricch
“The London,” Young Thug ft. J. Cole & Travis Scott
Song Of The Year
“Always Remember Us This Way” — Natalie Hemby, Lady Gaga, Hillary Lindsey & Lori McKenna, songwriters (Lady Gaga)
“Bad Guy” — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
“Bring My Flowers Now” — Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth & Tanya Tucker, songwriters (Tanya Tucker)
“Hard Place” — Ruby Amanfu, Sam Ashworth, D. Arcelious Harris. H.E.R. & Rodney Jerkins, songwriters (H.E.R.)
“Lover” — Taylor Swift, songwriter (Taylor Swift)
“Norman F—ing Rockwell” — Jack Antonoff & Lana Del Rey, songwriters (Lana Del Rey)
“Someone You Loved” — Tom Barnes, Lewis Capaldi, Pere Kelleher, Benjamin Kohn & Sam Roman, songwriters (Lewis Capaldi)
“Truth Hurts” — Steven Cheung, Eric Frederic, Melissa Jefferson & Jesse Saint John, songwriters (Lizzo)
Best Rap Album
Revenge Of The Dreamers III, Dreamville
Championships, Meek Mill
i am > i was, 21 Savage
IGOR, Tyler The Creator
The Lost Boy, YBN Cordae
Best Pop Solo Performance
“Spirit,” Beyoncé
“Bad Guy,” Billie Eilish
“7 Rings,” Ariana Grande
“Truth Hurts,” Lizzo
“You Need To Calm Down,” Taylor Swift
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
“Boyfriend,” Ariana Grande & Social House
“Sucker,” Jonas Brothers
“Old Town Road,” Lil Nas X & Billy Ray Cyrus
“Señorita,” Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello
Best Alternative Music Album
U.F.O.F., Big Thief
Assume Form, James Blake
i,i, Bon Iver
Father Of The Bride, Vampire Weekend
Anima, Thom Yorke
Best Rock Song
“Fear Inoculum,” Danny Carey, Justin Chancellor, Adam Jones & Maynard James Keenan, Songwriters (Tool)
“Give Yourself A Try,” George Daniel, Adam Hann, Matthew Healy & Ross Macdonald, Songwriters (The 1975)
“Harmony Hall,” Ezra Koenig, Songwriter (Vampire Weekend)
“History Repeats,” Brittany Howard, Songwriter (Brittany Howard)
“This Land,” Gary Clark Jr., Songwriter (Gary Clark Jr.)
Best Rock Performance
“Pretty Waste,” Bones UK
“This Land,” Gary Clark Jr.
“History Repeats,” Brittany Howard
“Woman,” Karen O & Danger Mouse
“Too Bad,” Rival Sons
Best Metal Performance
“Astorolus – The Great Octopus,” Candlemass ft. Tony Iommi
“Humanicide,” Death Angel
“Bow Down,” I Prevail
“Unleashed,” Killswitch Engage
“7empest,” Tool
Best Rap Performance
“Middle Child,” J.Cole
“Suge,” DaBaby
“Down Bad,” Dreamville ft. J.I.D, Bas, J. Cole, Earthgang & Young Nudy
“Racks In The Middle,” Nipsey Hussle ft. Roddy Ricch & Hit-boy
“Clout,” Offset ft. Cardi B
Best Country Album
Desperate Man, Eric Church
Stronger Than The Truth, Reba McEntire
Interstate Gospel, Pistol Annies
Center Point Road, Thomas Rhett
While I’m Livin’, Tanya Tucker
Best Country Solo Performance
“All Your’n,” Tyler Childers
“Girl Goin’ Nowhere,” Ashley McBryde
“Ride Me Back Home,” Willie Nelson
“God’s Country,” Blake Shelton
“Bring My Flowers Now,” Tanya Tucker
Best R&B Album
1123, BJ The Chicago Kid
Painted, Lucky Daye
Ella Mai, Ella Mai
Paul, PJ Morton
Ventura, Anderson Paak
Best R&B Performance
“Love Again,” Daniel Caesar & Brandy
“Could’ve Been,” H.E.R. & Bryson Tiller
“Exactly How I Feel,” Lizzo & Gucci Mane
“Roll Some Mo,” Lucky Daye
“Come Home,” Anderson .Paak & André 300o
Best Traditional R&B Performance
“Time Today,” BJ The Chicago Kid
“Steady Love,” India.Arie
“Jerome,” Lizzo
“Real Games,” Lucky Daye
“Built For Love,” PJ Morton & Jazmine Sullivan
Best Urban Contemporary Album:
Apollo XXI, Steve Lacy
Cuz I Love You (Deluxe), Lizzo
Overload, Georgia Anne Muldrow
Saturn, Nao
Being Human In Public, Jessie Reyez
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
“Brand New Man,” Brooks & Dunn with Luke Combs
“I Don’t Remember Me (Before You),” Brothers Osborne
“Speechless,” Dan & Shay
“The Daughters,” Little Big Town
“Common,” Maren Morris ft. Brandi Carlile
Best Rock Album
Amo, Bring Me The Horizon
Social Cues, Cage The Elephant
In The End, The Cranberries
Trauma, I Prevail
Feral Roots, Rival Sons
Best Dance Recording
“Linked,” Bonobo
“Got To Keep On,” The Chemical Brothers
“Piece Of Your Heart,” Meduza & Goodboys
“Underwater,” Rüfüs Du Sol
“Midnight Hour,” Skrillex & Boys Noize With Ty Dolla $ign
Best Dance/Electronic Album
LP5, Apparat
No Geography, The Chemical Brothers
Hi This Is Flume (Mixtape), Flume
Solace, Rüfüs Du Sol
Weather, Tycho
Best Pop Vocal Album
The Lion King: The Gift, Beyoncé
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Billie Eilish
Thank U, Next, Ariana Grande
No. 6 Collaborations Project, Ed Sheeran
Lover, Taylor Swift
Best Country Song
“Bring My Flowers Now” — Brandi Carlile, Phil Hanseroth, Tim Hanseroth & Tanya Tucker, Songwriters (Tanya Tucker)
“Girl Goin’ Nowhere” — Jeremy Bussey & Ashley Mcbryde, Songwriters (Ashley Mcbryde)
“It All Comes Out In The Wash” — Miranda Lambert, Hillary Lindsey, Lori Mckenna & Liz Rose, Songwriters (Miranda Lambert)
“Some Of It” — Eric Church, Clint Daniels, Jeff Hyde & Bobby Pinson, Songwriters (Eric Church)
“Speechless” — Shay Mooney, Jordan Reynolds, Dan Smyers & Laura Veltz, Songwriters (Dan + Shay)
Best American Roots Performance
“Saint Honesty,” Sara Bareilles
“Father Mountain,” Calexico With Iron & Wine
“I’m On My Way,” Rhiannon Giddens With Francesco Turrisi
“Call My Name,” I’m With Her
“Faraway Look,” Yola
Best American Roots Song:
“Black Myself,” Amythyst Kiah, songwriter (Our Native Daughters)
“Call My Name,” Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’donovan & Sara Watkins, songwriters (I’m With Her)
“Crossing To Jerusalem,” Rosanne Cash & John Leventhal, songwriters (Rosanne Cash)
“Faraway Look,” Dan Auerbach, Yola Carter & Pat Mclaughlin, songwriters (Yola)
“I Don’t Wanna Ride The Rails No More,” Vince Gill, songwriter (Vince Gill)
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Sì, Andrea Bocelli
Love (Deluxe Edition), Michael Bublé
Look Now, Elvis Costello & The Imposters
A Legendary Christmas, John Legend
Walls, Barbra Streisand
Best Rap Song
“Bad Idea” — Chancelor Bennett, Cordae Dunston, Uforo Ebong & Daniel Hackett, songwriters (Ybn Cordae ft. Chance The Rapper)
“Gold Roses” — Noel Cadastre, Aubrey Graham, Anderson Hernandez, Khristopher Riddick-tynes, William Leonard Roberts Ii, Joshua Quinton Scruggs, Leon Thomas Iii & Ozan Yildirim, songwriters (Rick Ross ft. Drake)
“A Lot” — Jermaine Cole, Dacoury Natche, 21 Savage & Anthony White, songwriters (21 Savage ft. J. Cole)
“Racks In The Middle” — Ermias Asghedom, Dustin James Corbett, Greg Allen Davis, Chauncey Hollis, Jr. & Rodrick Moore, songwriters (Nipsey Hussle ft. Roddy Ricch & Hit-boy)
“Suge” — Dababy, Jetsonmade & Pooh Beatz, songwriters (Dababy)
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
Ancestral Recall, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
Star People Nation, Theo Croker
Beat Music! Beat Music! Beat Music!, Mark Guiliana
Elevate, Lettuce
Mettavolution, Rodrigo y Gabriela
Best Americana Album
Years To Burn, Calexico And Iron & Wine
Who Are You Now, Madison Cunningham
Oklahoma, Keb’ Mo’
Tales Of America, J.S. Ondara
Walk Through Fire, Yola
Best Bluegrass Album
Tall Fiddler, Michael Cleveland
Live In Prague, Czech Republic, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver
Toil, Tears & Trouble, The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys
Royal Traveller, Missy Raines
If You Can’t Stand The Heat, Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen
126 Comments
They look happy
OK, I have questions:No jazz?
So I guess albums are still a thing?Rock & subgenres, country & subgenres, but no hip hop & subgenres?
Shouldn’t it be Recording of the Year?
There are Grammys for jazz. It is just that the Grammys have literally over eighty awards that they give out and don’t have the time or desire to show all but the bigger categories on TV.
I understand though I’d call jazz a pretty big category with a large market. But so are soundtracks and they’re not there either. Dare I say, both have more listeners than Bluegrass or Metal.
Cant speak for Bluegrass but there’s no way there are more jazz listeners than metal listeners in this day and age.
Perhaps. Though jazz is taught in music institutions, while metal isn’t (though the guitarists are often classically trained).
Plus it can be argued that jazz is an umbrella-genre that covers hip hop, while metal is a sub-genre of rock.
Are there any stats that show more metal listeners than jazz?
here are the stats you requested https://www.statista.com/statistics/188910/us-music-album-sales-by-genre-2010/
Thanks. Now I gotta create a statista account. 🙂
ah, showed up for free the first time I opened it. Here are some non paywalled statshttps://infogram.com/music-sales-by-genre-2018-1hnp270kyxon6gq
Wow. That’s at once both surprising, and not really all that surprising. :)Looks like hip hop is the commercial sector of jazz these days. And I find it a bit weird that they separate r&b from hip hop, but there you go.
I looked at that and initially misread the chart with EDM as the biggest seller and my heat sank …lol.There’s something poetic about seeing “Hip hop as the full circle”
Putting Hip-Hop under Jazz is weird and something that no one does. You could maybe argue that Hip-Hop is an evolution of Jazz (though I wouldn’t), but they’re completely distinct genres. Just because both were invented by African Americans, that doesn’t mean one is under the umbrella of the other.
Jazz people are always trying to act like they are some kind of silent majority, when in fact jazz people are weird and drastically inflate the enjoyment to be had from jazz.Source: My family is a bunch of jazz weirdos, narrowly escaped being a jazz weirdo myself.
Fair enough.
For the record, I wasn’t implying that different genres are directly related because of the culture they come from. For example, I wouldn’t say J-Pop is under the umbrella of Kabuki. That would be, as you say, weird.
But my understanding, as I wrote elsewhere, is that Hip Hop has its roots in Jazz. There are many similarities, including rhythms, and Freestyle Rap is similar to improvisation/scat singing. I once saw a documentary that explained how Funk evolved from Jazz and Rap evolved from Funk, so by that logic arguing that Hip Hop is an evolution of Jazz could be accurate.
I would also add that a lot of the best Metal musicians have at least some background/training in, or exposure to, Jazz. It helps them expand their creative palette.
This guy digs it!
its a little anecdotal, but sirius XM thought to have a metal station before a jazz one.
“it can be argued that jazz is an umbrella-genre that covers hip hop”That should not be argued.
May I ask why?
Hip hop has its roots in jazz. There are many similarities, including rhythms, and freestyle rap is similar to improvisation/scat singing.
That doesn’t make it jazz. Rock has it’s roots in blues. That doesn’t make it blues.
I didn’t say “that makes it jazz”. I said it could be argued that Hip Hop comes under the umbrella of Jazz. It was perhaps a poor word choice as they have very different origins.
It could be argued that Hip Hop evolved from Jazz, as I’ve explained elsewhere.
We get it; you hate metal. I personally can’t stand jazz.
Yay, internet hyperbole! As fun as it is inaccurate.
For the record (pun intended), I’ve enjoyed a number of metal works, such as Ziltoid the Omniscient, and the soundtrack to Detroit Metal City.
And saying you can’t stand jazz is like saying you can’t stand fruit. There’s lots of different flavours out there. Typically, when people say they don’t like jazz they mean traditional jazz, i.e. Dixieland. But jazz moved on, so perhaps try something newer. I recommend anything by Herbie Hancock.
I’m sorry to come out of the woodwork like this, but I just wanted, for the sake of providing relevant data, point out that I am a human being who likes neither jazz nor fruit.Yes, all of fruit. It’s weird, I know. I’ve just always had a thing with the textures. Anyway…
(retreats back to rock he crawled out from under)
;)Fortunately the word “fruit” can be replaced with many other such words like “cars” or “tables” or “comedies” or “adventure games”, and that’s just off the top of my head.
That’s not true, sounds like a regional thing for you.
I haven’t heard a goddamn rock song down here in South Florida in years, and we’re a music mecca for all South American performers.
I’m surprised that “metal” is a category.
Even if jazz has a big market, is it a big market that would be interested in watching the grammys?
This is why I don’t watch the Grammys. The awards listed above are all repetitive. Give one award for different genres, including obscure ones and I’d watch it.
All the numbers I’ve seen show jazz as being one of the worst selling genres in America. And that’s not even considering that a huge chunk of jazz sales are literally just one album (Kinda Blue).
To a philistine like me American Roots/ Americana/ Bluegrass* sound like sub genres of the same thing …like having seperate Synthwave/Retrowave/Vaporwave/Outrun awards, but Im guessing they’re all massively different.* the closest I’ve come to bluegrass is Hayseed Dixie , so I cant talk..
I feel like albums are making a bit of comeback, it’s not quite the landscape of all singles all the time that it used to be. Between vinyls and streaming there’s some sort of quiet resurgence.
Record of the Year can be traced to when 45s were a thing. So it’s basically person who had the best 45.
Seriously, what is Lil Nas XWhat does he actually do other than buy songs online and coast on controversy
I just want to know why a hip hop artist thought it was a good idea to put “Nas” in his name. No kid.
Nas the Nasty is Nastrodamus.The kid’s seen the future, and it’s streaming pop music for people under the age of 30.
1. Make all the money2. Bother the boomers3. No, seriously, he made ALL the money last year.
His hit is soooooo boring. I do not get the popularity at all. Seems like a cool person, but the song is *snore*
But the popularity is undeniable. My kids hear the opening of Old Town Road and it’s a wrap.
It’s true. Kids go buck for it!
I don’t know why some people are saying he bothers boomers either, I’m 25 and I don’t know anyone who likes his one song. It’s Rebecca Black’s Friday level of annoying to listen to. It seems like he’s like how Justin Bieber was back then? Only the teenagers seem to stan him hard.
You do realize teenagers are the target audience for 99% of mainstream music. Teenagers love his catchy song and he made millions.
Which is what I said? “Only the teenagers seem to stan him hard”? I just don’t agree with the other person assessment that only boomers are bothered by his song.
I can’t imagine being bothered by his song. It seemed inoffensively catchy to me. And he’s got a lot of charisma. Seems like a natural hit.
Annoyed seems more like the right word. A remixed version was played on a non-stop loop one time for nearly 3 hours while I was at the gym. It soured me hard on the song.The guy seems funny on social media, though.
10 minutes of that and legally you can destroy their speakers though.
Fair enough! Honestly, I don’t know any pop songs that could stand up to being played that many times in a row. I still flinch on the increasingly rare occasions that I hear “Oops I did it again,” because of a similar marathon listen.
I’m a little bothered that it made Billy Ray fuckin’ Cyrus and his Achy-Breaky Heart relevant again.
That’s exactly the thing — I can understand people knowing who he is through the exposure from the Billboard controversy or even just through his online presence, but I’m still at a loss to how he can be considered anything other than just famous for being famous at this point. It’s almost like you don’t need to actually work at your art if you’ve got teenagers stanning you hard
“I’m still at a loss to how he can be considered anything other than just famous for being famous at this point.”
He had literally the biggest song in years, yet somehow in your ignorant mind that’s just famous for being famous? Fuck off.
Do you honestly think that there aren’t millions of other harder working musicians and songwriters with just a fraction of the fame this guy’s received for his 20% of a song?That’s what I mean.
Well, it’s not quite Lil, it’s not quite a Nas, but man… (laughs hysterically) So to answer your question, I don’t know.
I think its a small device for sharing out multiple drives over a network , but I may be wrong.
Soooooooo much music I have zero interest in listening to.**A bit of an exaggeration, I’ve heard 20 percent of all the stuff nominated in the popular music categories. But I have no desire at all to hear any of the rest I haven’t heard. Which makes me a little sad.
Kinda happy about the Jethro Tull win in the Metal category.
I’m old. I know this. I don’t get Billie Eilish.
I, too, am old. Yet I feel like I get Billie Eilish.Takes all kinds, I guess…
Think of her as the new Fiona Apple, except with more awards.
How on earth is she anything like Fiona Apple?
She’d be lucky if that were the case. I underestimated Fiona Apple based on Tidal, but When The Pawn… turned out amazing and she turned out to be a powerhouse. My kid loves Eilish and maybe I should pay attention.
That’s…that’s a pretty fair appraisal…
She’s fucking great; good to see something interesting win a Grammy for once
I’m old. I know this. I’d never heard of Billie Eilish until now.I just listened to Bad Guy for the first time. It’s not bad! It’s interesting and novel! I’m glad that at least novelty is being recognized.
She was born after 9/11.
Fellow old person here—I think their album (I say they because I think her brother deserves at least 50% credit) is pretty impressive. Some of the songs work better acoustically. I think she’s quite compelling and surprisingly self-possessed for a teenager. I’ve been impressed with her sine she first started getting well known a few years ago and I think she’ll be around for a while.
Don’t blame age. I’m probably older than you, and I enjoy her pop vocal performances.What I don’t get is why anyone thought it was a good idea to drag Aerosmith out of the nursing home. That was painful.
I’m old and I am proud to say I could name 2 people in the header photo, Billie Eilish being one of them. I can only thank my 9 year old daughter for giving me that ability though.
My 14-year-old daughter was yelling at the TV until I made her go to bed, which made me history’s greatest monster.
“I don’t get Billie Eilish.”
What’s to get?
Her brother performs on most (if not all) of her songs and co-wrote at LEAST the tunes if not a lot of the words so I humbly think he should have co-won a lot of those awards.
I’m old too. I only heard a bit of one of her songs once and while I didn’t hate it I never in million years would’ve guessed from that song that she’s hugely popular.
That is exactly how I feel. I don’t think the song is bad, I just don’t get why its such a “big deal(TM)“. For me it almost seems to border on a sorta weird parody level. Again maybe I am just old and this is what the young ones like these days.
I feel like it’s barely a song, begging the question why people are going so nuts over it.
People, especially the youngest ones with money, are very suggestible, so when Ryan Seacrest goes on air and definitively states, “THIS IS YOUR NEW FAVORITE SONG,” they believe it, buy it, and militantly defend it against all “haters.” In that respect Billie Eilish is no different from any other modern pop star. Lather, rinse, repeat.
For an old dude I’m surprisingly susceptible to good pop, and this one just does zero for me. To each his own.
Duh.(I don’t really “get” her either, but someone had to post the obvious response.)
HOT TAKE
I’m still fairly young. I get Billie Eilish. I went to middle school with the exact some goth posers, and apparently not singing is the new “singing.” It’s most assuredly not my thing, but I congratulate her on her success. Given pop culture trends, it will likely be short-lived, so I hope she enjoys the ride while it lasts.And while the Grammys are on the whole bullshit year-to-year, I am glad that Gary Clark finally got some due.
Gary Clark was grown in a lab to specifically win Grammys.
Yes indeed. As well as Tool. 7empest is a masterpiece and deserved the award.
Don’t worry I didn’t even know what song she sang till last week. Being in my late 40’s I know I’m an old man.
I am old too, but think her song is ok. Certainly not the “best” anything for me though. It is interesting to me how the Grammys, like all other awards shows that are televised, gets a bad rap for being old, stodgy and out of touch, yet people like Eilish tend to win major awards.
The Look on Lizzo’s face (and to an extent Lil Nas X’s) says it all.
What is a Billy Eyelash
She’s the one in the green hairDuh!
Oh I get it – this is a joke about your own illiteracy.
On the contrary – that “Billy Eyelash” is a direct quote from a different person who heard the name and thought the artist was male.No kidding.Thus the person you criticized for being illiterate was actually quite literate – ad hominems are seldom a good idea.
Without any specifics in your explanation, I’m good with my comment. Poe’s Law and all that.
Oh, shush. You all sound old as fuck.
“Got To Keep On,” The Chemical BrothersSlept on
This is one of the most amazing shows
I don’t expect much from the Grammys, but even still I find it strange that a rap song won the Rock categories.That said, the Metal category actually was… pretty good! Although Opeth definitely belonged there (they had the best metal album of the year), 7empest was by far the best metal song of the year, so I’m glad it won.
“This Land” a rap song? What are you smoking?
I’d never heard it before. I listened to it. It sounds like a rap song with some guitars.
I really don’t understand this universal love for Billie Eilish. Musically speaking, she is not doing anything revolutionary or challenging. Bad Guy is basically only a two-note song, there is no melody, and she is barely singing (I would call it boringly whispering). Is it because she is super young and not exploiting her body like other young female artists?
There is literally a hook that is a melody that has seven notes and modulates twice making it technically 21 notes.It’s because it’s a good song that is very off-kilter compared to most pop songs even if it doesn’t fit your extremely narrow vision of what music is.
You don’t know what music I like, I just think hers isn’t that impressive and it’s getting way too much praise (people are calling it genius). No need to dismiss all of my taste in music based on me not liking Billie.
I’m not dismissing your taste in music I’m refuting your idea of the song being “two notes” and that “musically speaking she isn’t doing anything interesting or challenging.”. Those are both objectively false statements where if you had simply said “I don’t like her music” instead of questioning whether it IS music, you would have a point but you didn’t, so you don’t.All of the music you enjoy is derivative on some level, trust me.
Well the two-notes thing actually came from Billie Eilish herself (she said it in one of those carpool karaoke with James Gordon), and by not interesting and challenging I meant what she is doing with her voice, which I still thing isn’t. I didn’t say it wasn’t music, as I specified in another comment, I think that what she is making isn’t as impressive as everyone is making it out to be. It would be like a not that impressive TV show or movie winning all of the awards, you’d be allowed to question all the praise.
“…came from Billie Eilish herself”Then don’t present it like your own opinion if it’s not your own opinion?Your original post absolutely reads like an old white lady saying rap isn’t music. “No melody, no singing!”
Also she’s a pop artist, not a jazz artist. I’m not sure what you think the Grammys are, but they’ve never given a shit about deeper music. At least they rewarded the “weird” pop this time.
“Then don’t present it like your own opinion if it’s not your own opinion?” So what, if I learn or find out something from someone else, I am not allowed to use it in arguments, even if I agree? That’s like using the pythagorean theorem
to solve a math exercise and have the teacher say that I cannot use it
because I’m presenting as if I came up with it. If the statement
applies, and I agree with it, I don’t see why I can’t use it.
I’m actually not quite sure what the Grammys are, I thought they were the equivalent of the Oscars but for music, I guess I’m wrong then. I actually like rap, but I still never heard any rapper get the same genius praise that she is getting for what I consider to be not impressive songs, but fine, we disagree.
Look, it’s clear we have different tastes in music, and I’m sorry that I presented my opinion in a mean-spirited way.
It’s because people like her song. You don’t have to be so aggressively ignorant, you know.
So you answer my comment about not understanding why people like her song with “it’s because they like their song”? Amazing! I feel enlightened now.
well do you like James Blake or the XX? Barely writing a song and barely singing are en vogue. Do you like repeating the same sentence 20-30 times and calling it a song? Might I introduce you to Haim. Compared to those examples her songs with her brother are at least a mild improvement.
I’ve heard her described as basically “ASMR with a beat” and, well, I think that summarizes her pretty well. I guess a lot of people are into that (though I relate to you in not, myself).
Billie Eilish isn’t a new artist this year. Black Pumas should have won. I declare shenanigans.
What’s the difference between a record and an album?
record” means a particular recorded song, not its composition or an album of songs. Song of the Year is also awarded for a single or individual track, but the recipient of this award is the songwriter who actually wrote the lyrics and/or melodies to the song.
It’s insane how so many commenters on this pop culture blog seem to abhor and be completely out of touch with pop culture
THANK YOU. I dunno how these people found themselves on a self-described pop-culture-obsessed site kvetching about how they don’t know who These Kids Today are, or why anyone likes anything. Maddening.
This site is for old people pop culture. What do they call it again? Nostalgia?
Why do so many artists use “$” and “Nas” in their names?Whats the actual reason?Is this just akin to hundreds of sports teams using “Tigers” ?
I’ve pretty much got over my main complaint about Billie Eilish, which is that instead of solo billing she and her brother should call themselves a group. Even if that song they did is pretty repetitive (as are lots of songs these days) it was smart of them to do it acoustic and show that he actually plays an instrument and she actually sings (as opposed to Camila Cabello who seems to be, am I wrong?, only lipsynching despite having been caught only lipsynching at SNL, or Aerosmith and the people on Old Town Road who put everything so low-to-mid-register it sounded like your dad singing along with the beatles two octaves down because he can’t hit any of the notes). Honestly if that is mainstream music we can do worse, it’s better than Katy Perry. People on this site expecting to actually like it have to remember that the Grammys and Oscars aren’t for us, they’re for teenagers or Green Book old people, by that metric, could be worse. Performances were okay…why is H.E.R. the most talented person I don’t find interesting? I hate Vampire Weekend but can’t expect the Grammys to want real indie.Glad Tyler, Anderson.Paak, and Lizzo won. Question: who else did you think was not singing live?
A lot of yelling at cloud energy in these comments re: Billie Eilish
those clouds better get off my lawn!
Hrrmmm, I see a lot of “Best Pop,” yet I do not see the words Dedicated or Carly Rae Jepsen anywhere on this list. Clearly mistakes were made.
She’s self aware and sings about the darker side of things while not being cit your wrists sad. Shit Miley Cyrus tried desperately to switch to. Bad Guy was her silly boastful track with a catchy bassline. She has much better songs. And yeah her brother is the co-hort that wants to stay out of the spotlight.
I looked at the winners and the outfits and clearly I’m out of touch, and I’m ok with that…..
The Grammys are fucking shit.
So who here remembers as a kid in the 80’s when the American Music Awards on ABC were way better than the Grammy’s. Then again I feel like the Grammy’s always have been for old people so I should love it now! 🙂
2-Time Grammy Award Winner Billy Ray Cyrus.That is all.
I actually own Lizzo and Dreamville! Lizzo is pretty unavoidable, but it’s the first heavy-rotation album I’ve unironically enjoyed in quite a while. And I discovered Dreamville while waiting for Blackalicious to take the stage (thanks, Shazam!). I almost feel hep to the jive, or whatever they say these days.My kids love Billie Eilish, so I’ve heard of her, and I don’t mind her at all. I sometimes get her confused with Halsey, who reminds me of P!nk (is it the hair?). Although by the time I finish typing this, they’ll tell me they’re no longer into Billie Eilish, and “that’s so 2019, Dad”.
So, how did Billie Eilish, who released a platinum-selling album back in 2017, somehow get awarded Best New Artist last night? I know the Grammy’s are largely a rigged sham, but this doesn’t even make sense.
I assume because it was an EP, not a studio album? I don’t know the rules.
Yeah, it seems so arbitrary. You’d think Best New Artist would only be available for musicians who have NOT released a full studio album yet. And should only be held for those releasing singles and EPs.
Ugh. “Urban” needs to go.