At the 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday night, host James Corden and the various musicians and presenters spent a good deal of time and energy reminding those in the audience and watching at home of the honor’s diamond anniversary and of its return to New York City after 14 years in Los Angeles.
Yet, in performance after performance and speech after speech, the Grammys didn’t seem in touch with their past. If the awards had the glittering history spoken of by so many, why didn’t we see any of it? It was all telling and no showing. Some living titans were present, but far less than one would think. It was, on balance, very much a Grammys for the moment.
And, yet, the ceremony did not embrace the moment as much as it could have. While performances and moments of protest spoke to the issues of the day — #MeToo, immigration, racism and the toxicity of the current administration — the actual lineup of artists awarded seemed untethered to those concerns or even excellence at times.
Case in point, Ed Sheeran took home the Best Pop Solo Performance honors for "Shape of You," in a category that was otherwise all women (Lady Gaga, Kesha and Kelly Clarkson) with better songs. More than that, "Shape of You" was so suspiciously similar to another popular single, "No Scrubs," that the English signer had to share credit for it with the writers of that TLC hit after wide criticism against him. Offering him an award for it was simply bizarre.
And, still, Grammy night 2018 it all started off so well. Kendrick Lamar not only won big later in the evening, but spoke big, with a powerful performance featuring Dave Chappelle as well as Bono and the Edge from U2 that opened show.
Black men dressed in army fatigues surrounded Lamar as an American flag waved behind them. They mimicked soldiers in march, but this wasn't a tribute to the Army. The words "This is a satire" floated on a backdrop as Dave Chappelle offered quick quips as real-time musical-interlude skits. "The only thing more frightening than watching a black man be honest in America," Chappelle said, "is being an honest black man in America." The performance closed with the dancers, now in red, being shot to the ground one by one. The message was hard to miss.
Later, when Lamar's "DAMN" took "Best Rap Album," the rapper dedicated the award to hip-hop itself. "From the jump I thought it was about the accolades, and the cars and the clothes," Lamar said. "But it’s really about expressing yourself, putting that paint on the canvas for the world to evolve for the next listener, the next generation after that." He gave a special nod to Nas, Diddy and Jay-Z, the legends in the audience who continue to inspire him. "Jay for president," Lamar added before exiting the stage.
The cost of America's fatal romance with guns was made present too with a tribute to the victims of the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas. Eric Church, Maren Morris and Brothers Osborne, all of whom were performers at the festival, sang Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven" with the names the slain appearing in lantern-like lights behind them.
We were told a #MeToo moment was coming this evening, but it took several hours and performances for it to arrive in the form of Janelle Monáe, stunningly dressed in a suit embroidered with flowers and a Time’s Up pin. "We come in peace but me mean business," she spoke, "and to those who would silence we have two words: Time's up."
"It's not just going on in Hollywood, it’s not just going on in Washington," the singer said of pay inequity, sexism and sexual harassment. "It’s right here in our industry as well." She continued, "And just as we have the power to shape culture, we also have the power to undo a culture that does not serve us well."
Monáe then introduced Kesha, a fitting embodiment of Monáe's poignant words and the #MeToo movement. Last year's "Rainbow" marked Kesha's first full album since she began her long legal battle with her former producer, Dr. Luke, who she has accused of sexually abusing her. Accompanied by Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Julia Michaels, Andra Day and the Resistance Revival Chorus — a women's collective known for singing protest songs — Kesha offered a raw performance of "Praying" a song that speaks directly to those experiences. While her vocals were pitchy, her emotions carried her through until she fell into the arms of the women around her at the song's end.
As advertised, many men in attendance were indeed wearing white roses on their lapels in solidarity with the twined Time’s Up and #MeToo movements (Elton John laid a particularly large one on his piano during his performance of "Tiny Dancer" with Miley Cyrus). But this was a visual, silent protest. Aside from Corden praising the power and bravery of Kesha and those who joined her on stage for "Praying," the men didn’t say much in support of the women standing up against harassment and inequality inside and outside of the music industry.
Naturally, the specter of President Donald Trump snuck its way into the show — as it sneaks its way into all things — through comic asides and oblique critiques from presenters. Trevor Noah offered a quip that would have been cut from any episode of "The Daily Show," Corden made a little reference to the president’s newly forged beef with Jay-Z and so on. Few these little comments landed with any force.
One moment that offered at least a little bite was a Corden skit in which Grammy nominees and performers auditioned to be the voice of the audiobook edition of Michael Wolff’s "Fire and Fury." Reading passages from the exposé about the president eating cheeseburgers in bed and dying his hair while the country burns, John Legend, Cher, Snoop Dogg, DJ Khaled and the genuinely hilarious and alarmed Cardi B didn’t make the cut. In a blink-or-you’ll-miss-it cameo, a smiling Hillary Clinton won the role. Good for her.
Ambassador Nikki Haley was not amused.
Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello's comments on Dreamers and immigration offered a stronger critique of Trump without even mentioning his name. "This country was built by dreamers for dreamers chasing the American dream," she said. "I’m here on this stage tonight because just like the dreamers my parents brought me to this country with nothing in their pockets but hope." She added, "these kids can't be forgotten and are worth fighting for." She then introduced a pre-taped U2 performance of "Get Out of Your Own Way" filmed in the New York harbor with the Statue of Liberty in the background.
The most radical moment of the night came during Logic and Best New Artist winner Alessia Cara's performance of their massive hit and suicide prevention anthem "1-800-273-8255." At the song's close, Logic denounced racism and Trump's harmful policies and language towards immigrants in an explicit, sharp statement.
"Bring us your tired, your poor, and any immigrant who seeks refuge," he said, "for together we can build not just a better country, but a world that is destined to be united." He added, to "all the beautiful countries, you are not s**holes."
Like all mainstream award shows, the Grammys struggles with representation, too often neglecting artists of color. Specifically, it often fails to acknowledge hip-hop — now America's dominant musical genre — in its four major categories.
When this 2018's nominees were announced, the consensus was that this year was different. Hip-hop and R&B artists dominated the four major categories, as did artists of color, though it felt somewhat unclear if these nominations were just a way to appease annual tensions and get ahead of other award-show boycotts like #OscarsSoWhite. One had to wonder if any of these nominees would actually win.
As it turns out, artists of color did indeed flourish, with multiple wins for Lamar and R&B artist Bruno Mars sweeping the major awards taking home Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Record of the Year (though that means Outkast remains the only hip-hop artists to win Album of the Year, ever).
Mars also provided a musical highlight of the night, teaming up with the lovable, feisty Cardi B on his "Finesse".
But there were two sides to Mars being the man of the night. Winning Song of the Year for "That’s What I Like" as well as Record of the Year and Album of the Year for "24K Magic," he was the ever-so-safe victor in categories filled with greater, more daring works by Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z and Childish Gambino — works that offered not only uncompromising music, but pointed and necessary political statements.
Mars is a great musician and entertainer, to be sure, and it’s certainly not his fault he was honored above, say, Jay-Z or Lamar. Still, that Mars won big last night over them speaks to just how much the The Recording Academy seemed to want to have its cake and eat it too. Yes, it was a night of strong, sometimes touching demonstrations and led by people of color and particularly women of color. But, for the most part, the Academy awarded men creating easily digestible, mostly safe tunes over some of the very brilliant, sometimes unsafe protest music made over the last year.
Shares