How the Grammys Got It Right
By: James Kelly
The Grammys have not been known for their good choices in the past– especially in the Rap categories. From “The Heist”, by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis winning best Rap Album over Good Kid M.a.a.d. City and Yeezus, to 1989 by Taylor Swift winning Album of the Year over To Pimp a Butterfly, the recording academy has never been able to get it right with the genre. However, this year, I believe they actually got all of their Rap category picks correct for the first time in a while.
Starting out with most controversial Rap pick of the night, “Wait For U'', by Future, Drake, and Tems, won Best Melodic Rap Performance over “Die Hard” by Kendrick Lamar, “Beautiful” off of the new DJ Khaled album, “First Class” by Jack Harlow, and “Big Energy'' by Latto. While many people expected “Die Hard” to win, I think the choice they made was correct, as the Tems sample, stellar Drake verse, and late-night atmosphere of the song make it a respectable choice for this specific Grammy.
Now let’s move on to the wins by Kendrick Lamar, who became the third-winningest rap artist at the award show ever. Lamar swept the rest of the Rap awards, starting with “The Heart Part 5” winning Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. To me, this is the right choice. The rapping, the writing, and the Marvin Gaye sample combined to make the perfect comeback song for Kendrick after his six year silence. Kendrick effortlessly raps from the perspectives of OJ Simpson, Kanye West, Will Smith, Jussie Smollet, and the late Nipsey Hussle and Kobe Bryant on this captivating track. He touches on subjects such as division and violence, and how these topics have traumatized the black community. His performance on the track, along with the powerful meaning of all the verses, more than deserved the two awards it garnered, and it was great to see the recording academy recognize the song’s greatness and depth.
Kendrick not only won for “The Heart Part 5”, but his entire album, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers took home the coveted Best Rap Album over Pusha T’s It’s Almost Dry, and Future’s I Never Liked You. Even though most knew that Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers was the most compelling record out of the nominations, it was no guarantee given past missteps by the Recording Academy. But the project deservingly won. Kendrick's therapy sessions between the two sides of the album showed us what we all wanted to hear after Kendrick’s six-year absence: His true, unfiltered thoughts. From the very beginning, with “United in Grief,” Kendrick tells us that he has been “going through something”, and follows up that song with the aptly named “N95”, where tells people to take off their masks, including Birken bags and “Designer bull—-”. We got to see a part of Kendrick Lamar that we’ve never seen before, and watch him try and accept his imperfections. From his self proclaimed daddy issues on “Father Time,” or his understanding of transphobia throughout “Auntie Diaries,” we follow our era’s most acclaimed rapper as he discovers how at the end of it all, he just needs to choose himself to grow as a person. This project more than earned its Grammy, and capped off a rare night that the award show correctly handled its Rap categories