Did This Years Grammy Awards Get Cancelled Because The Nominees All Suck So Bad? My Theory.
The Recording Academy and CBS postponed the 64th Grammy Awards show last week. “The health and safety of those in our music community, the live audience, and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly to produce our show remains our top priority,” the announcement reads.
On this past episode of "On The Guest List", White Sox Dave's and my flaming hot take music podcast that we do with Kenny Carkeet of AWOL National, and Colin Budny of Foxtrot and The Getdown, I laid down a take so hot, that the car mount holding my phone at the time of recording melted.
And surprisingly, a lot of people have agreed with me.
"Was this year's Grammy Awards being canceled, "due to Covid", a cop-out because the field of nominees sucked so bad?"
Exhibit A -
(These were all announced back in early November)
Record of the Year
"I Still Have Faith In You," ABBA
"Freedom," Jon Batiste
"I Get A Kick Out Of You," Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
"Peaches," Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon
"Right On Time," Brandi Carlile
"Kiss Me More," Doja Cat Featuring SZA
"Happier Than Ever," Billie Eilish
"Montero" (Call Me By Your Name), Lil Nas X
"drivers license," Olivia Rodrigo
"Leave The Door Open," Silk Sonic
Song of the Year
"Bad Habits," Ed Sheeran
"A Beautiful Noise," Alicia Keys Featuring Brandi Carlile
"drivers license," Olivia Rodrigo
"Fight For You," H.E.R.
"Happier Than Ever," Billie Eilish
"Kiss Me More," Doja Cat Featuring SZA
"Leave The Door Open," Silk Sonic
"Montero (Call Me By Your Name)," Lil Nas X
"Peaches," Justin Bieber Featuring Daniel Caesar & Giveon
"Right On Time," Brandi Carlile
Album of the Year
"We Are," Jon Batiste
"Love For Sale," Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
"Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe)," Justin Bieber
"Planet Her (Deluxe)," Doja Cat
"Happier Than Ever," Billie Eilish
"Back Of My Mind," H.E.R.
"Montero," Lil Nas X
"Sour," Olivia Rodrigo
"Evermore," Taylor Swift
"Donda," Kanye West
Best New Artist
Arooj Aftab
Jimmie Allen
Baby Keem
FINNEAS
Glass Animals
Japanese Breakfast
The Kid Laroi
Arlo Parks
Olivia Rodrigo
Saweetie
Best Pop Solo Performance
"Anyone," Justin Bieber
"Right on Time," Brandi Carlile
"Happier Than Ever," Billie Eilish
"Positions," Ariana Grande
"drivers license," Olivia Rodrigo
Best Pop Duo or Group Performance
"I Get a Kick Out of You," Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga
"Lonely," Justin Bieber & benny blanco
"Butter," BTS
"Higher Power," Coldplay
"Kiss Me More," Doja Cat feat. SZA
Best Rap Album
"The Off-Season," J. Cole
"Certified Lover Boy," Drake
"King's Disease 2," Nas
"Call Me If You Get Lost," Tyler, the Creator
"Donda," Kanye West
Best Rap Performance
"Family Ties," Baby Keem, Kendrick Lamar
"Up," Cardi B
"My Life," J. Cole, 21 Savage & Morray
"Way Too Sexy," Drake, Future, Young Thug
"Thot S***" Megan Thee Stallion
Best Rap Song
"Bath Salts," DMX, Jay-Z, Nas
"Best Friend," Saweetie, Doja Cat
"Family Ties," Baby Keem, Kendrick Lamar
"Jail," Kanye West, Jay-Z
"My Life," J. Cole, 21 Savage & Morray
Best Country Solo Performance
"Forever After All," Luke Combs
"Remember Her Name," Mickey Guyton
"All I Do Is Drive," Jason Isbell
"camera roll," Kacey Musgraves
"You Should Probably Leave," Chris Stapleton
Best Country Duo or Group Performance
"If I Didn't Love You," Jason Aldean & Carrie Underwood
"Younger Me," Brothers Osborne
"Glad You Exist," Dan + Shay
"Chasing After You," Ryan Hurd & Maren Morris
"Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)," Elle King & Miranda Lambert
Best Country Song
"Better Than We Found It," Maren Morris
"camera roll," Kacey Musgraves
"Cold," Chris Stapleton
"Country Again," Thomas Rhett
"Fancy Like," Walker Hayes
"Remember Her Name," Mickey Guyton
Best Country Album
"Skeletons," Brothers Osborne
"Remember Her Name," Mickey Guyton
"The Marfa Tapes," Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall & Jack Ingram
"The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita," Sturgill Simpson
"Starting Over," Chris Stapleton
Best Rock Performance
"Shot in the Dark," AC/DC
"Know You Better (Live from Capitol Studio A)," Black Pumas
"Nothing Compares 2 U," Chris Cornell
"OHMS," Deftones
"Making a Fire," Foo Fighters
Best Rock Song
"All My Favorite Songs," Weezer
"The Bandit," Kings of Leon
"Distance," Mammoth WVH
"Find My Way," Paul McCartney
"Waiting on a War," Foo Fighters
Best Rock Album
"Power Up", AC/DC
"Capitol Cuts- Live From Studio A," Black Pumas
"No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1," Chris Cornell
"Medicine at Midnight," Foo Fighters
"McCartney III," Paul McCartney
Now here's the thing… as you get to the bottom of the list, and you see the heavy hitter hip hop, country, and rock names the list actually starts to look legit. The only problem is 80% of those awards are handed out pre-show, or mailed to the artists or group. They never make the telecast.
Country has ALWAYS gotten the shaft from the Grammy's. Unless its Jay Z, Kanye, or some other larger-than-life artist same for Hip Hop. And Rock has also never got the respect it deserves at the awards show.
So what it widdles down to sadly is the who's who of Pop. Which is almost always a popularity contest.
And this year it doesn't get more pop than Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, H.E.R., Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, and Kanye.
The only problem is, looking at that list, did anybody actually LOVE any of those albums this year?
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I argue no.
None of them are classics.
None of them are albums we will be listening to 5, or 10 years from now.
Sure "Sour" by Olivia Rodrigo was a SMASH success, and marked her coming out party as an absolute force in the pop music industry, but can you really say it was an album of the year with a straight face?
Adele released "30" to an incredible amount of fanfare and even though I think it was comprehensively her best complete work to date, it still left something to be desired.
The saddest part of everything is that this year we should have experienced the opposite. Or one would think.
With artists being locked down for a year, unable to tour and travel, and do artist things, you would think they would have 100% of their focus on creating new material and writing. But maybe that lack of interaction with the rest of the world dulled that? I don't know.
So yes, I think the Grammy's saw the writing on the wall, and used the opportunity to blame Covid and the hardcore lockdown measures in LA as an excuse to "postpone" the awards.
(Rumors are swirling today they're considering moving it to Las Vegas in the spring which if is the case, forget everything I said.)
p.s. - Silver lining here- at least we don't have to listen to this dickhead pontificate to us about how we need to support artists (the labels) through purchasing music and bending over to higher fees for streaming services.
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