Is it possible that the Grammys are actually moving backwards? America’s steep racial divide is not some radical new development, and like most other institutions built on prestige, the Grammys have always been an exceptionally white enterprise. But at a time when the continuing separation between blacks and whites in America is becoming impossible for comfortable white people to ignore — be it through the court system letting white policemen off the hook for murdering unarmed black people, or Chris Rock writing incisively on Hollywood’s unbearable whiteness, or Ta-Nehisi Coates making a reasonable case for reparations — it’s hard not to notice the overt segregation in this year’s nominations.
The Record Of The Year nominees: All white. The Song Of The Year nominees: All white. The Best New Artist nominees: All white. When the Album Of The Year picks come out tonight on what promises to be a gloriously corny Grammys Christmas special, odds are they’ll be almost entirely ivory too. Maybe the major sales and massive critical orgy around Beyoncé’s (seriously excellent) self-titled album will be enough to snag her a nomination, but maybe not; and even if she does get nominated, does she really stand a chance against Ed Sheeran or Sam Smith? Should we even have to question whether the world’s biggest pop star’s critically acclaimed blockbuster album will be nominated for a Grammy because she’s black? I don’t know, but it feels like we have to. Even last year’s Grammy hero, Pharrell, saw his G I R L relegated to the “Urban Contemporary” no flex zone.
Again, this is not a new phenomenon, and it’s hardly limited to the Grammys. But it feels especially grating this year to see black artists siphoned off into their own category-ghettos, partially because of the cultural context, and partially because the major categories the white artists are running rampant through seem so especially mediocre this year. It’s increasingly difficult to believe that Lauryn Hill and OutKast actually took home Album Of The Year honors in 1999 and 2004, respectively. Adding insult to injury is the assurance that the white artists who sneak into the traditionally black categories are all but guaranteed a victory. It’s not hard to picture thrice-nominated Iggy Azalea will be reliving last year’s Macklemore controversy as The New Classic claims Best Rap Album (though honestly this year’s weak field reflects the dearth of quality major rap albums), and Eminem’s “Rap God” certainly has a shot at winning Best Rap Song. This isn’t an outrage on par with the American justice system, but it still sucks.
Congrats @theGRAMMYs Best Alt Music Album noms @alt_J @arcadefire @CageTheElephant @st_vincent @thirdmanrecords
https://t.co/7IJob990Aq
— Vampire Weekend (@vampireweekend) December 5, 2014
Obvious racial storyline and the general terribleness of the major song categories aside, is there anything good about these Grammy nods? The most Stereogum-centric category, Best Alternative Music Album, sees Arcade Fire, St. Vincent, Jack White, Alt-J, and Cage The Elephant fighting it out. None of those choices are controversial, and only St. Vincent is even a little surprising, but — Lost In The Dream omission notwithstanding — the old “they could have done a lot worse” line seems relevant here. It’s cool to see Drake’s awesome “0 To 100/The Catch Up” in the race for Best Rap Song, though Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-bait “i” will probably win and Childish Gambino’s “3005″ might have an outside shot. Speaking of Drake, how wonderfully weird that we live in a world where ILoveMakonnen’s “Tuesday (Remix)” is nominated for a Grammy (Best Rap/Sung Collaboration)? It’s also good to see Eric Church’s The Outsiders and “Give Me Back My Hometown” so well-represented in the country categories, and although Sturgill Simpson likely will not beat the likes of John Hiatt, Nickel Creek, Keb Mo, and Roseanne Cash for Best Americana Album, seeing him among the nominees is a pleasant surprise. HAIM are filling the role of the indie-friendly (though certainly not indie in any practical sense) Best New Artist candidate this year — and hey, NARAS didn’t nominate MAGIC! for anything, so that’s something.
The Best Music Video category is one of the most uniformly strong, with Pharrell’s unflinchingly fun “Happy,” Arcade Fire’s socially relevant “We Exist,” Sia’s memorable viral hit “Chandelier,” and DJ Snake & Lil Jon’s ridiculous “Turn Down For What” all in the running. (No love for FlyLo’s masterpiece “Never Catch Me,” but that video actually came out the day after the nomination period closed.) Best Rock Song is about as solid as the video field, with Beck, Ryan Adams, Jack White, the Black Keys, and even (especially, TBH) Paramore offering up worthy nominees. Best Rock Album isn’t quite as sturdy; I like the Beck and Ryan Adams albums well enough, but neither U2, Tom Petty, nor the Black Keys deserve to be honored here, even if their inclusion was a foregone conclusion.
As for those major categories: They certainly do match up with what’s been happening on the charts. As someone who’s been closely following the upper reaches of the Hot 100 all year, it’s true that Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, Meghan Trainor, Sia, Hozier, and Iggy Azalea have been dominant. If the Grammys are supposed to recognize commercial success, they hit the mark. Trouble is, their accurate depiction of the American pop scene is yet another reminder of what a bleak year it’s been for pop music. The nominees suck because upper-tier pop music today largely sucks — and this is coming from a guy who likes pop music enough to write a column about it every week. It’s possible to imagine an alternate, more appealing but still honest Record Of The Year race with Ariana Grande’s “Problem,” Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be,” and Tove Lo’s “Habits (Stay High)” in the mix — but no, the nominations we got are on-point, from a cultural saturation standpoint. So maybe we as a culture are actually moving backwards too?
[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images.]
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Among the white people in question are Iggy Azalea, Eminem, Meghan Trainor, Sam Smith. By and large, these white people do not make good music (anymore, in Eminem’s case).
Really strange to see that Beyoncé’s best album — by a LONG shot over 4 — didn’t elicit a response like:
I would also ad that Iggy, Em, Sam Smith, and Meghan Trainor are also not just white musicians, they are, pace Macklemore, white musicians who do watered down black music. Why give awards to black musicians, or indeed, play their music on pop stations, when they can be shunted off into their own categories? The plain fact is most of their music sucks anyway, and Beyonce would have been far more deserving.
And back to Beyonce — who was once nominated for a live performance of “Listen” — it’s pretty damning that the committee shows only nominal love for her most “urban” album.
Halo, not Listen. Fuck. :)
If that were true then it could just be that way. I don’t see how any serious music fan could make the argument that these nominations make any sense, though.
I gotta mention this somewhere so I’m gonna do it here. The 2015 Grammy nominees in the category of Best Metal Performance:
Anthrax – Neon Knights
Mastodon – High Road
Motorhead – Heartbreaker
Slipknot – The Negative One
Tenacious D – The Last In Line
Two of those songs are from a Dio tribute record. One of the Dio tribute songs is Tenacious D.
jesus christ
I’m supposed to laugh at how ridiculous this is, right?
J ust
E nough
T ime
H as
R un
O n
T o
U ltimately
L augh
L oudly
I’m almost positive they run down a list of the metal records released in a given year and choose the first 5 names they recognize. There is no other explanation.
I’d love to see the actual human beings that do the nominating for best metal record. I’m sure they look like most metalheads I’ve known in my life.
I’d buy that, except for this:
Ever since the Jethro Tull debacle in 1989, the Grammys have pretty much treated Metallica as an auto-nomination. In 2000 Metallica WON A GRAMMY for their 1998 cover of Thin Lizzy’s 1972 version of the traditional Irish folk song “Whiskey In The Jar.” Metallica performed at the Grammys last year and it was one of the big things that happened that night. (Metallica were nominated for a Grammy last year too — in 2014, only six years since their last album.) We agree the Grammys recognize Metallica’s name. Right?
So here’s the fucking crazy thing: Metallica actually contributed a medley to that Dio comp. And it is legitimately the best thing Metallica have done since 1991. I’m not saying it deserves any superlative awards compared to the whole universe of metal, but the fact that TWO SONGS from that Dio tribute album were nominated and NEITHER ONE was the Metallica song is confounding. But that’s not enough! Not only was Metallica excluded, but one of the songs nominated is a cover of a Dio song BY A NOVELTY BAND.
I just … I mean, this award is utterly irrelevant to metal; it’s beneath mockery because it’s so out of touch. And somehow, this is EGREGIOUSLY wrongheaded even by Grammy standards to the extent that I feel a need to vent about it here.
All salient points. I do take umbrage with you not referring to it as “Whiskey in The Jar-O” however.
But seriously folks…..the Grammy’s really just need to let the metal thing go. They embarrass themselves year after year with this. Nobody cares about what the Grammy folks think about metal. Nobody within the metal community gives a shit about crap like the Grammys. Just let it go.
I love Tenacious D. They make me chuckle. But for them to be nominated for a COVER as a METAL band is just flat insane. It’s so insane I don’t even know how to wrap my head around it. And I’m not a metal guy. I cannot fathom how angry this must make the true faithful of metal.
Wow. I mean, I can’t say I’m surprised, but still, that’s an even worse list than usual. Someone call Jack Black and tell him to start clearing space on his awards shelf…
Boycott the grammys
I was just gonna say this. Wouldn’t it be awesome if black artists just didn’t show up? It would probably be painted as complaining and being ungrateful or some bullshit but I would love it if the grammys were forced to rethink their nomination process.
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I get that, but you don’t think he submitted “Happy” for Song Of The Year or Record Of The Year? And I guess none of the other black artists submitted themselves for any of the major categories either?
its a very detailed process that is concealed, so i don’t know all the details, but i would assume you are correct that they did submit. But again, weirder things have happened. I’m not a big pop guy so I can’t comment further on other black or white artists who released albums this year under those categories. I feel he should have been nominated as well. thanks for responding though chris.
Let’s not over-analyze the Grammy’s. They’re not the ‘Oscars of music’, they’re more like the ‘Daytime Soap Emmy’s of music’
the grammy’s never even features good music anyway. if you’re gonna contest anything, contest that. the grammy’s suck. until actual talent gets recognized you should be complaining about that instead.
Honestly, some of those nominees seem to be chosen purely on a basis of “have we heard of them”? Petty, U2 and black keys for best rock? The three most critically acclaimed albums of the year not even in the mix? If all they want is to serve to the tv viewers, why is the music press still taking it seriously?
It has been a very long time since I took the Grammy’s seriously. This is one reason of many not to give a shit about them.
of course Arcade Fire’s “We Exist” was nominated for a Grammy. it’s the Oscar Bait of music videos: well-meaning but utterly clueless, grossly manipulative and featuring a Big Movie Star. It’s shit.
miss_merboy: I gots to give ya’ props.
You are one consistent SOB
‘Wow! An award statue! Oh, it’s a Grammy.’ *Throws off balcony*
‘Hey, don’t throw your garbage down here!’
Making sense of the Grammys is a fool’s errand.
To everyone who doesn’t care about the Grammys, this isn’t about the Grammys per se. It’s about recognizing racist trends within the establishment.
Read any of the recent Chris Rock interviews or essays; he’s genius at relating this stuff.
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NO
We have to keep it real here…Run The Jewels would not exactly be a practical nominee, so there will always be a somewhat ‘meat grinder’ music approach to the Grammys.
That being said, I always find it odd why a little more time and effort to be somewhat relevant with certain sections isn’t happening. Take for example, the Alternative/Rock category…Wouldn’t a list of nominees like this below generally please us? Granted, this may not be what I believe to be the five best albums in this category, but it certainly captures a good chunk of how the year went, and it would make the Grammy’s a helluva lot more respected, and more impotrantly (especially with such a bitter year it was regarding streaming services) give some bands and record labels a nice financial bump and hope that awards can build a healthier industry.
Spoon
War on Drugs
Merchandise
Sharon Van Etten
Future Islands
I’m genuinely not saying this as a fan……I would replace Merchandise with Swans.
I like all of those bands and their 2014 records a lot, but I think Arcade Fire and St. Vincent are just as deserving… I think you also have to accept that Grammy nominees have to have passed a certain threshhold of exposure and commercial success, and accepting Spoon, most of the acts you name are still too obscure to have a chance. The real tragedy is that like 80% of what we like has to be whittled down to one 5-artist category.
I absolutely agree…I always look at film in times like this. Birdman will be just as much a contender as any film from this past year, but it will probably always go to something like Unbroken in the end
Online publication year-end lists are the closest thing we have to a proper awards show for these artists. I think that’s why this time of the year is so exciting (for me, at least). Some people have the Superbowl, or NBA finals, some people have the Oscars and Golden Globes, I guess some have the Grammys or VMAs (haha); then others have their P4ks and Gummys.
Solid point. My co-workers know I’m a music junkie and when the awards show cycle starts they ask me……………………
“Didja watch the …………………awards last night”?
“Umm…..no. My personal idea of awards is a group of people going to a website and arguing endlessly for about a two week period. Cuz we are the arbiters of taste. And you don’t have to thank me/us. We listen to all of this stuff so you know what’s cool and what’s not cool. And just so we’re clear…..The Dave Matthews band still isn’t cool”.
And I say all of this with a straight face. Of course I’m only kidding around (wink)
I’d have no problem with that list of nominees. I thought maybe with all the momentum WoD has built up with previous albums and all the praise and attention for they’re latest they would actually make the cut. Silly me! And it’s just shocking Spoon has NEVER even been nominated, I don’t know what it would take for them to ever be. Fortunately them winning/being nominated for a Grammy has no correlation to them making perfect music every time they try, so…doesn’t really matter. And again, fuck the Grammys :-)
That wouldn’t be a bad list and all of those bands have enough hooks and traditional song structures to have relatively mass appeal as well. I can’t understand why bands like this don’t get more attention. Is it just because they don’t play the media game?
Seriously! I mean, if you can push the damn Bastille song on radio, why not “Seasons”? Tom Petty fans, hey, they would probably dig “Red Eyes”! But the industry is so fragile and risk-averse right now, and rock radio in particular is such a wasteland, it just doesn’t seem like there’s any medium for launching a real crossover career.
You’re looking at it from the wrong perspective of whose respect the Grammy’s are trying to court. People were legitimately pissed when Bon Iver was put up for awards because they hadn’t heard of him. The Grammy’s are for people with a passing interest in music who like to see a nice show while mainstream acts they’ve heard of get patted on the back. The Grammy’s don’t want the average Stereogum reader’s respect. They want the respect of the masses, and that’s who their nominees are designed to appeal to. It sucks, but it’s how it works.
Music awards will never make sense again with the amount of access out there. There’s just no way to accurately recognize and reward all the music out there especially when so much of it is hard to agree on. So when they pick from the same upper crust of pop music every year it feels hugely inadequate.
It’s like if there was an awards show for “Best Food” every year and the nominations routinely picked “Salisbury Steak,” “Mashed Potatoes” and “Skittles”
That analogy is perfect
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Run The Jewels missed the cut-off date, which may have been the case for “Happy” in the General Fields as well? While it does suck that the big categories are so homogenized, it would be much worse if the Grammys handed a nominated to a black artist solely because they are black. That type of tokenism is just as troubling; black people shouldn’t be used as props by the Grammys to show how “progressive” they are. If they truly didn’t feel as though “Drunk In Love” or “Don’t Tell ‘Em” or “2 On” were good enough to get nominated in the general field, then that is their right.
I think this really has more to do with our society viewing whiteness as being more acceptable, more approachable to a wide audience than blackness. There’s no reason an artist like FKA twigs shouldn’t be nominated for Song, Album, and Record of the Year for her incredible work this year; but she’s relegated to operating on the fringes of the mainstream. It would be nice if the Grammys showed the courage to think outside the box, and looked at things other than record sales and chart placement when deeming who is and isn’t worthy of their nominations.