My all-time favorite awards show has always been the Grammys. It has always been so fun to look back on the music of the past year and give one’s opinions. This year, the 62nd Grammy Awards took place on January 26th, hosted by Alicia Keys.
The host decided to pay tribute to the late basketball star Kobe Bryant, who passed early Sunday afternoon. Keys, along with 90s R&B group Boyz II Men performed the band’s “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” in memoriam of Bryant, as well as a spotlight on his retired jerseys.
Most of the night’s performers were commonly known names, Tyler, the Creator, Ariana Grande, Lizzo, Camila Cabello, etc. Lizzo was the night’s first performer, showing off her hits of the past year and ending with an iconic mic drop. The singer went on to win Best Pop/Solo performance for her song “Truth Hurts.” Later was, in my opinion, the most iconic showstopping portion of the night, Tyler, the Creator. The songs “EARFQUAKE” and “NEW MAGIC WAND” were performed with help from Boyz II Men and Charlie Wilson, and it ended with the artist falling backward into fire. Tyler, the Creator went on to win Rap Album of the Year with his 2019 record IGOR. Speaking on his victory in a Radio Room interview Tyler expressed his view of appreciation for the award but felt that his categorization alongside other black artists in the Rap or Urban categories are backhanded compliments to give a platform solely for African American artists as a way to segregate artists especially when those artists create genre-bending works like Tyler’s “Igor.” Another one of my personal favorites was Ariana Grande. The singer tweeted earlier that day that her Grammys performance would mark the end of the Thank U, Next era, and a new chapter in her life would start musically. Three iconic songs were sung, “imagine,” “7 rings,” and, finally, “thank u, next.” Grande went home with no awards.
Let’s talk about Billie Eilish. The up and coming artist won five awards on Sunday, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album. Many people, including myself and Eilish, believe that something was wrong here. It has been all over the internet, many people believing that her wins took away from those who got none, but were also very deserving. Eilish pointed this out while accepting an award, expressing her genuine shock that Ariana Grande did not win Artist of the Year. Many fans were upset by the fact that artists like Grande and Lana Del Ray were snubbed of awards, and “#scammys” was trending on Twitter after the event.
Overall, do I think the Grammys were off this year? Yes, but I think we can all agree that awards shows are usually going to be rigged for certain people. However, the performances this year were very well put together and very much reflective on 2019 as a whole.