57th annual award show leaves much to be desired
The Grammy Awards exist to help us celebrate all of the fantastic music from every year.
Unfortunately, the award shows generally miss the mark on crowning deserving albums, and this year was no different. Here’s how the Grammy awards really should have played out.
Masen Matthews
The choice for album of the year was where the head scratching began, with Beck’s Morning Phase beating out the latest offerings from Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith and Pharrell Williams. In all fairness, none of these albums are really worthy of the top spot, and even Taylor Swift’s 1989 would’ve been a better choice for album of the year than any of those nominated.
Regardless, Kanye was right, the real award should’ve gone to Beyoncé if we’re simply considering the nominated choices.
Best metal performance was quite possibly the most questionable choice, with Tenacious D beating out Mastodon, Anthrax, Motorhead and Slipknot. Mastodon’s latest album was phenomenal, Slipknot is riding the heels of a huge comeback and Motorhead and Slipknot have been around for decades. Tenacious D is fun and all, but a novelty band fronted by Jack Black is ultimately an eye-rolling choice for this one, considering the competition.
Eminem hasn’t released a classic album since the first Marshall Mathers LP, and slapping the number two at the end of it and trying to relive the glory days doesn’t make it worthy of best rap album either. Other nominations, namely Childish Gambino’s Because the Internet, Common’s Nobody’s Smiling and even Schoolboy Q’s Oxymoron would’ve been a better choice.
It seems as if Eminem might’ve won simply for his veteran status in the commercial rap scene. The ultimate reality is other nominations brought way more creativity and freshness to the genre this year than Eminem did. Rap fans can at least take solace in the fact that Kendrick Lamar beat out Drake and Eminem for best rap performance, which was definitely a fitting choice.
While the Grammy awards may have made us face-palm, cringe and quiver in frustration, there were some legitimate choices as well. The latest Aphex Twin album was a great choice for best dance and electronic album, and it even seems like an underdog victory with Deadmau5 losing to it. Paramore’s track “Ain’t It Fun” beat out Beck, Ryan Adams and more for best rock song, which was a solid pick as well.
Year after year, the Grammy awards are a time where music critics roll their eyes. This year was no different, and there were a slew of deserving nominees and artists who were hung out to dry. Still, all a music fan can do is stare at their computer in frustration.
Masen Matthews can be reached at [email protected]