Award shows never cease to cause a little controversy, and the Grammys were no exception this year. Album of the year is always the big prize and it seemed as if all the stars were aligned for Kendrick Lamar to take it home. Shockingly, (okay, not that shockingly) Taylor Swift’s 1989 album won in the end. I have absolutely no disrespect for Taylor Swift, or her album that I have listened to on repeat for months with absolutely no shame. It is the board of directors who select the winners that lost my respect a long time ago.
No one can deny that you have to sell a lot of records, sell out a lot of concerts and have a lot of radio slots to get any attention from the music industry these days. It’s a sad fact of life in that business that great music won’t get you recognition or any type of credit you deserve. I guess that’s what you sign into willingly. That doesn’t mean, however, that it is right. Let’s look at the nominees for “Best New Artist.” There’s Courtney Barnett, one of the few independent singer-songwriters to ever be nominated in this category.
James Bay, a 25-year-old YouTube sensation that went from the Internet to the big time in only a few short years. His debut EP The Dark of the Morning, followed by an additional trio of EPs that built up to Chaos, a 12-track recording that was released in March 2015. Although the album only reached No. 15 on the Billboard 200, it bowed at No.1 on the official U.K. Album Chart.
Sam Hunt was another rather big name in this category. As country’s new heartthrob, he pushed the boundaries of the genre with his album Montevallo (also nominated for Best Country Album). Seven out of ten of the set’s tracks cracked the upper regions of the Hot Country Songs chart; three went to No. 1. “Leave the Night On” reached that summit in tandem with Montevallo crowning Top Country Albums, making Hunt the first artist in more than 22 years to lead both charts simultaneously with a freshman single and album.
Tori Kelly, similarly to James Bay, was found and signed because of her cover songs on her YouTube channel. With millions of views it is no surprise that Kelly eventually hit the big time. It wasn’t an easy rise for Kelly, but, undeterred, the California native self-released her 2012 EP, Homemade Songs, which led to her true rise to fame. Kelly’s Capitol Records debut, Unbreakable Smile, entered the Billboard 200 at No. 2 and spawned the Billboard Hot 100 hit “Nobody Love.”
And then there’s Meghan Trainor, the somehow inevitable winner of this category that still makes me cringe. Again, there are plenty of songs that I like by Trainor and no one can deny the chart toppers she’s come out with, but her win was yet another example of how incredibly mainstream and cookie cutter artists have to be win the prize. All the other artists push boundaries, made it all the way to the top essentially on their own, and Trainor had a lot of empty lyric No. 1 hits. If it comes down to downloads and a number on a chart, that’s a lot of responsibility on the public, the listeners, to navigate through all that music to ensure the right winner. There has to be another way.
Going back to 1989 and How to Pimp a Butterfly, it is clear that the number of nominations, and his win of Best Rap Album, Lamar received were proper reflections of how important his art and his masterful album really are in the world of music. To me, however, this is not enough. Lamar not only deserved the awards he received but also Best Album of the Year for one simple reason: his album is better than Swift’s.
Set aside the numbers and figures; Lamar’s poetry is just better, and it is not a subjective opinion at all. Music that tells a story, that tells a story that matters, that’s the winner hands down in my opinion. You can put any of Swift’s songs like Wildest Dreams, Out of the Woods or Shake It Off next to any of Lamar’s lyrics and see how trivial it all really is.
So Taylor won. It definitely isn’t the end of the world. As a woman I have to appreciate that she is the first woman to win the award twice, but it still leaves a bad feeling in my stomach. The Grammys, hell, award shows in general, have been doing this for decades, and I guess I was too naïve in thinking this year would be any different. It isn’t right, though. And I can only hope that not just the public, but the artists in the industry as well, start speaking up for those who are wronged, because Lamar was flat out wronged.