My whole life, nearly 50 years on Earth, the Grammy Awards have been mostly wrong. It's like they purposely try NOT to get it right. The Grammys are some sort of weird cross between a popularity contest and an insider trading scam.
So tonight, while looking at Grammy results, I came across this article from Ira Madison:
Then I went back and checked the nominees for Album of the Year:
Childish Gambino’s Awaken, My Love!
Jay-Z’s 4:44
Lorde’s Melodrama
Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN
Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic
Ummm, it appears that the Grammys are probably NOT racist as hell. Madison III argues that this year is an anomaly and cites multiple egregious errors of the past that support his theory. What Madison really seemed to be bent about was Macklemore beating out Drake, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, and Kanye West for the Best Rap Album of 2014 and Beyoncé not winning more, period.
Yeah, the Grammys are out of touch. I read the same article year after year. Bashing on the Grammys is a sport upon itself, kind of like whacking a piñata with a stick. But when you cry racism....
Here's some categories I know a lot about this year:
Best Comedy Album 2018? Dave Chapelle. Probably the right choice.
Best Rock Performance 2018? Leonard Cohen???
Let me get this straight. According to the Grammys, dead since 2016, at the age of 82, Leonard Cohen rocked harder than anyone, including the Foo Fighters?
Which re-inforces my theory that the Grammys just don't get it.
Best Metal Album 2018? Mastodon. I'll listen to that.
But you don't hear me scream "the Grammys are racist against the whites. Mastodon didn't even get a best album nod." I'm not unrealistic, I know that 2018 is not metal's time. Actually metal's time hasn't been since the 80's, and the Grammys ignored them for terrible artists like...well, revisiting the list, pretty much everyone who did win in the 80's.
Right now Ira's face is turning red "BUT HISTORICALLY...."
I'm not a rap aficionado. I'm just not. But arguing that rappers should win because they are the most popular genre of the year is just not how the Grammys work.
Okay let's use that argument in a category that I'm familiar with---Metal.
In 2015 Tenacious D won Best Metal Performance covering a Ronnie James Dio song from 1984. There are so many things wrong with that I can't even begin to explain them all. Since 2010, these artists have all won Best Metal Performance: Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Black Sabbath. Most band members' ages in Megadeth? 50s. Iron Maiden 60s. Judas Priest 60s. Black Sabbath 60s. There's nothing more metal than performing on prescription drugs.
None of those bands above deserved to be nominated, let alone win. The Grammys are almost like voters in a Presidential Election, voting by name recognition and not paying attention to the content. (And the person who should win isn't even on the ballot.) Nobody recognized the titans of metal until 30 years (or more) after their peak. When metal artists should have been winning, Grammys were going to Burt Bacharach.
Back in 1990, Public Enemy's song "Fight the Power" lost to Young MC's "Bust a Move" which would be in the Top 10 of horrible Grammy decisions. But I have to caution that there's a huge difference between racism and stupidity.
I could go on and on, but I see that the Racist Grammys just awarded Bruno Mars Album of the Year, which is a shame, because I was rooting for Childish Gambino.
Please re-visit Childish Gambino's Me and Your Mama. I can't say enough great things about this single.
I welcome all people who want to bash on the Grammys to PLEASE do so. Just do it with your ears and not your eyes.