Tom Talks #6: The Grammys 2021 (Part 1)

 

Once again, I am back with another Tom Talks and today the topic of discussion is the Grammy's! Unlike my review on the MOBO Awards, this will be solely focused on my views on the winners and losers, not the performances or the show itself.

Before we delve in, we have to address the elephant in the room, which is those who were not nominated. There is always an extensive list of those who are ignored and The Weeknd's lack of nominations were quite highly publicized and justifiably so, with his new album being his best for me personally. The lack of recognition for the late Mac Miller, Run the Jewels , Lianne Le Havas and several others who have dropped incredible stuff in 2020, show the Grammys have a long way to go, but they have made some steps forward this year, as we will discuss.

General Awards

As with any music award ceremony, the big prize on the night is 'Album of the Year,' which went to Taylor Swift's 'folklore,' an album I enjoyed very much for it's indie-folk, less poppy sound, with intriguing tales of fictional characters and how they deal with relationships. Taylor did knock it out the park with this one and while I enjoyed the new Dua Lipa project and many tracks off the latest LP by Jacob Collier, I found many nominees such as 'Everyday Life' by Coldplay and Post Malone's 'Hollywood's Bleeding' to be quite weak, meaning for me it was an easy win for Miss. Swift.

Also one of the more prestigious categories of the night is 'Record of the Year,' which for the second year in a row went to Miss. Billie Eilish for 'everything i wanted.' This was an enjoyable lo-fi ballad, which delves into her nightmares and her love for Finneas (her brother), but there was very little standout tracks on the list. 'Don't Start Now' is a disco throwback banger, while other nominations varied from the sassy 'Savage' by Megan Thee Stallion and Beyonce, the melodic pop rap of DaBaby with 'ROCKSTAR' to Beyonce's ode to the Black Lives Matter movement with 'Black Parade.' For me though, none of these will be remembered as the best of the best, when we look back on 2020, with popularity rather than quality being the defining factor of this category.

The final two big awards on the night, 'Song of the Year' (no it's not the same as 'Record of the Year,') and 'Best New Artist,' went to H.E.R's 'I Can't Breathe,' and Megan Thee Stallion respectively. I don't really understand why this incredible song from H.E.R was not nominated for 'Record of the Year,' with it's powerful message and fantastic vocal delivery, allowing it to stand out from the other nominees, which included previously mentioned tracks and the melodic 'The Box' by Roddy Ricch. Megan for me was in close competition with Phoebe Bridgers, who I find much more interesting with her indie/folk-rock sound, compared to Megan's enjoyable, but accessible Pop Rap. The closet competition for these two was probably Kaytranada, despite the fact he has been around the block for a while, which confused me greatly in terms of his inclusion on the list.

Pop Awards

The pop awards thankfully didn't go to Justin Bieber, who released some pretty mediocre music in 2020, especially the god awful and sickly sweet 'Yummy,' which was nominated for 'Best Pop Solo Performance.' That award went to the massive hit 'Watermelon Sugar' by Harry Styles, a catchy hit sure, but not particularly memorable and it surprised me, considering the previously mentioned hits for Billie and Dua were nominated for 'Record of the Year,' as well as this award. 

One of the year's best collaborations from Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande won 'Best Pop Duo/Group Performance,' with 'Rain on Me,' a euphoric banger with a positive message to help us get through the hard times of lockdown. The powerful balladry of Taylor Swift and Bon Iver on 'exile,' was a track I personally preferred, but with it's more folky sound, was a weird choice for this category. Other tracks from the K-Pop of BTS, to the Latin Pop of J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny & Tainy were quite average and thank god Justin Bieber didn't win, with his dull take on R'n'B.

Finally, Dua Lipa deservedly won 'Best Pop Vocal Album' with her very enjoyable throwback to a more danceable era, on 'Future Nostalgia.' (very aptly titled for what it's delivering.) I again prefer the Taylor album, but it really doesn't belong in this category, (sort your shit out Grammys,) while 'Chromatica' by Lady Gaga didn't quite reach the highs of the second album from Miss. Lipa.

Dance/Electronic Awards

Kaytranada won big in the dance categories winning 'Best Dance Recording' and 'Best Dance/Electronic Album' for the chilled '10%' with Kali Uchis and 'Bubba' respectively.  I was happy to see him take home some awards, but I did really have a lot of love for 'My High' by Disclosure, slowthai and Amine, (god I bet you're sick of me talking about slowthai now) while Flume's 'The Difference,' was also more intriguing and dance orientated than the winner. I also found 'Bubba' did not have the long lasting impact his previous album had, while in comparison, the new Disclosure project was much more memorable, despite its own flaws. Still it was nice to see a wide range of Dance genre's get nominated with Madeon and Baauer also getting nominated for the latter award.

Rap Awards

Megan Thee Stallion kept bagging the awards, as she made History as the first women to win a Rap Grammy by taking home 'Best Rap Performance' and 'Best Rap Song,' for the hugely popular 'Savage,' with it's catchy hook and massive feature from Beyonce. (who made history on the night herself.) I do enjoy the track, but in both categories 'The Bigger Picture' from Lil Baby delivered in terms of performance and as a single, with it's in depth message on the BLM movement and a surprisingly good delivery of this topic from a rapper, who is more known for his autotuned braggadocio, than social commentary. 

Also let's not forget the amazing delivery by Big Sean and Nipsey Hussle on 'Deep Reverence' which was also nominated in the former category, alongside hits like 'ROCKSTAR,' the breakout hit from Jack Harlow, 'Whats Poppin' (which didn't quite pop for me) and the latest one from Drake, which once again just does enough to meet the most common denominator. Megan for me has still more to come and fingers crossed, three Grammys will spur her on to make even better tunes.

In a year of so much turmoil, it was important to honour the music that described the times, so to see Anderson .Paak pick up the award for 'Best Melodic Rap Performance,' was nice to see. The track 'Lockdown,' discusses the topics of the pandemic and racial tension, with a great sense of understanding, while also providing a tuneful experience that only Anderson can deliver. Other nominations from DaBaby and Roddy Ricch gave us the melody, but no one captures the attention of the listener on this list like 'Lockdown' did in 2020.

The final Hip-Hop related award on the night went to Nas for 'King's Disease,' which certainly caused a big stir amongst die hard rap fans. This Grammy for 'Best Rap Album,' was certainly overdue for one of New York's finest, but man, Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist got mugged this year. 'Alfredo' with it's classy production and fantastic lyrical delivery throughout, was the standout for me on a very lyrical/indie focused list, including projects from Jay Electronica and Royce da 5'9". The new Nas project was certainly one to recommend for hardcore Hip-Hop fans, but nowhere near the magnificence of 'Illmatic,' let alone 'Alfredo.' But despite the despair I feel for Freddie and the Alchemist, to see Nas finally get his win, is a moment that has been a long time coming, it's just a shame it meant someone else was snubbed in the process.

I hope you have enjoyed this first reaction to the Grammy Awards and stay tuned for part 2, where we discuss the R'n'B and Rock categories, as well the best of the rest. Make sure to leave your thoughts on this years winners in the comments and see you later folks. (yes we will discuss Beyonce making history there.)