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[GorillaJu]

1989 wouldn't even make a top 20 list for me and I'm not afraid to put pop in among the Father John Mistys and Sufjan Stevens. Grimes' Art Angels and Carly Rae Jepsen's EMOTION are both worthy pop albums that are comfortably better than 1989.

As for TPAB? I mean it's absolute brilliance. Artistry. Losing to 1989 doesn't mean shit, and the Grammys are a joke anyway.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Ahahaha the fact that GKMC lost to The Heist is a forever L that will never wash off. It's embarassing to an almost ridiculous degree when even the winner is all but outright apologizing.

You are correct.

1989 wouldn't even make a top 20 list for me and I'm not afraid to put pop in among the Father John Mistys and Sufjan Stevens. Grimes' Art Angels and Carly Rae Jepsen's EMOTION are both worthy pop albums that are comfortably better than 1989.

As for TPAB? I mean it's absolute brilliance. Artistry. Losing to 1989 doesn't mean shit, and the Grammys are a joke anyway.

And so are you.

 

[Maple-Tech]

Serious question, when did people(outside of the popgaf wackos) start to seriously care about the Grammies?

For the longest time, the only time I ever heard the Grammies mentioned was to make fun of them for being out of touch and worthless. It felt like common knowledge. But now, you have all these articles and essays being written over an awards show that's never been taken seriously.

 

[WaffleTaco]

Unless something crazy happens this is pretty much a lock.

I don't think she will though. She has "Hello" and that's pretty much it. However, we still have the whole year ahead of us...and some of last year.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

Serious question, when did people(outside of the popgaf wackos) start to seriously care about the Grammies?

For the longest time, the only time I ever heard the Grammies mentioned was to make fun of them for being out of touch and worthless. It felt like common knowledge. But now, you have all these articles and essays being written over an awards show that's never been taken seriously.

I think this is happening with most award shows, and it could end up being a good thing.
I believe it is just a result of technology and how stances are able to go viral and gain groundswell support that is hard to ignore.

It would be great to have actual meaningful awards shows. Certain ones, and especially the Grammies, have always been made fun of in popular media and it just ended there.

With social media and the viral nature of news nowadays, the sort of criticism goes farther than just the punchline to a joke and its possible for a groundswell movement to force the people in charge to re-evaluate the entire process.

I am skeptical that any real change will come as a result, but its still amazing that stuff like this can bring about stuff like the Academy head's letter on diversity, although whether that was just an empty gesture or not remains to be seen.

 

[BadAss2961]

Can someone explain what is so great about the Kendrick Lamar album? I am not a fan of Rap or Hip Hop and this type of music does nothing for me. I'm not trying to downplay it or say that Rap isn't music.

What is so different about this? I checked out several tracks from the album on youtube and it sounds about what I would expect from the genre and the lyrics didnt seem to be saying anything that hasnt already been said for years.

I'm into hip-hop, mostly older stuff, and I kinda feel the same way. Kendrick is clearly a very talented lyricist, but for the most part, his music doesn't do anything for me. Not a fan of his production or beats selection, and his flow rarely does them any favors. There have been many rappers like this that have great skill and/or conscious but lack the ear to make hit tracks to make it complete. I think he was meant to be a poet much more so than a musician.

Out of the entire TPAB album, How Much a Dollar Cost is the only song that comes together for me.

 

[RDreamer]

It's a bit early to call, but I'll be shocked if Adele doesn't win this Grammy next year for '25'.

Wonder what the chances of them giving it to Bowie posthumously.

 

[Pristine_Condition]

Newsflash. The Grammy's are garbage and it has nothing to do with race or genre. It is about being part of the established music industry machine.

In 1991, The Grammy for Album of the Year went to "Back on the Block," a compilation album by producer Quincy Jones.

In 1991, The Song of the Year was "From a Distance," sung by Bette Midler.

In 1991, Nirvana released "Nevermind." With the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as the biggest single.

In 1992, the year the Grammys "discovered" Nirvana, they awarded Album of the Year to Natalie Cole's "Unforgettable... with Love" ("Nevermind wasn't nominated for this category,) and when the finally got around to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in 1993, they gave the Song of the Year Award to Eric Clapton for "Tears in Heaven." ("Teen Spirit" wasn't even nominatated for this category.) In the category of Rock Song, where "Teen Spirit" was on the list, they gave the Grammy to Eric Clapton for the "Unplugged" version of his 1970 song "Layla."

You want to win a Grammy in the major categories? Try being either insanely, undeniably successful at moving millions of copies of pop records for a major label, or better yet, be old.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I'm into hip-hop, mostly older stuff, and I kinda feel the same way. Kendrick is clearly a very talented lyricist, but for the most part, his music doesn't do anything for me. Not a fan of his production or beats selection, and his flow rarely does them any favors. There have been many rappers like this that have great skill and/or conscious but lack the ear to make hit tracks to make it complete. I think he was meant to be a poet much more so than a musician.

Out of the entire TPAB album, How Much a Dollar Cost is the only song that comes together for me.

At absolutely no slight to you, might I recommend trying the album one more time with Genius.com open to help with the uptake on lyrics? It helped me a great deal as some of the lines really were far beyond my understanding/perspective at a glance.

It's a remarkable work once you see what's going on and how it fits together. The beats are a YMMV like with any album. I loved them, personally. Helps the album stand out as unique, almost like watching a stage play.

 

[hodayathink]

It's a bit early to call, but I'll be shocked if Adele doesn't win this Grammy next year for '25'.

I don't think she will though. She has "Hello" and that's pretty much it. However, we still have the whole year ahead of us...and some of last year.

The combination of general critical acclaim plus massive sales is going to be more than good enough (it's always been good enough for pop music, including this year), unless the Grammy voters decide they want to make a statement choice instead.

Wonder what the chances of them giving it to Bowie posthumously.

And of the albums that have been released already, this is probably the best bet to beat Adele, especially given how few Grammys he actually won.

 

[GorillaJu]

I'm into hip-hop, mostly older stuff, and I kinda feel the same way. Kendrick is clearly a very talented lyricist, but for the most part, his music doesn't do anything for me. Not a fan of his production or beats selection, and his flow rarely does them any favors. There have been many rappers like this that have great skill and/or conscious but lack the ear to make hit tracks to make it complete. I think he was meant to be a poet much more so than a musician.

Out of the entire TPAB album, How Much a Dollar Cost is the only song that comes together for me.

There are people who will be able to answer this better but I'm also not a hip hop head and I still think TPAB is one of the best albums of the year. It feels like an epic movie, with characters and stories that all tie into a complex web of emotions but it's still so sincere and down to earth. There's also sonic variety both in vocal stylings and instrumentals that makes every unique track interesting yet still connected and part of a whole. It has everything.

As usual I can't really put into words what I find so appealing just "me like this."

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I don't get why anyone's even worked up about the Grammy's. For fuck's sake they gave best rock album to Muse's "Drones." It's pretty clear they're beyond a joke in every sense of the word. There are whole genres they skip and a bunch more they kind of half ass.

Hell, they only have one metal category and it's only performance... not even an album of the year category, yet country and every other genre has one. If you want a reference that all these televised music award ceremonies are terrible at choosing who wins, is when Lorde won Best Rock Video at the MTV VMA awards... fucking Lorde.

It's kind sad how far the Grammys and all the big names are so far inside their own bubble that they will never recognize some seriously damn good albums year after year. "You're not selling many records? Why should we consider you?"

 

[WaffleTaco]

The combination of general critical acclaim plus massive sales is going to be more than good enough (it's always been good enough for pop music, including this year), unless the Grammy voters decide they want to make a statement choice instead.

Tell that to Beyoncé with her no-promotion album release that changed the industry by giving it to Beck...

 

[ponpo]

Give multiple awards at the next grammys to Smug Mang to make amends for past transgressions.

 

[NotBacon]

TPAB just wasn't that good

Spoiler

imo

. I respect Kendrick and what he is doing, but I just don't enjoy his music. I think someone else said it best: he should be a poet.
1989 didn't deserve it either. Grammy's was a joke this time.

 

[BadAss2961]

At absolutely no slight to you, might I recommend trying the album one more time with Genius.com open to help with the uptake on lyrics? It helped me a great deal as some of the lines really were far beyond my understanding/perspective at a glance.

It's a remarkable work once you see what's going on and how it fits together. The beats are a YMMV like with any album. I loved them, personally. Helps the album stand out as unique, almost like watching a stage play.

The wordplay is obviously impressive, but yeah, i'll try to give the lyrics a deeper look sometime. Though I doubt it'll change much since I can already tell he's a great lyricist. It's the music and flow that quickly throws me off. Just not feeling it.

Usually I have to like the way a song sounds before i'm interested in digging beyond that surface. That's just the way I process music.

 

[PyroPaperPlanes]

There's a reason I pay no attention to award shows.

 

[Beatofficer]

Literally any of these

Laughed when I saw Father John Misty, I feel like I was one of five people to buy that album. Bought it when it came out because I like Fleet Foxes.

 

[mozfan12]

The Grammys always play it safe. These awards should not be taken seriously, glad that Kendrick still got a lot of attention in spite of the absolutely ludicrous decision to give it to T Swift.

 

[Pavaloo]

Kendrick got robbed, and I say that as the only person in my friend group bumping and defending 1989.

I said it before and I'll say it again - When Michael Jackson was ignored for Off the Wall he responded by making Thriller. When Kendrick was nominated for Good Kid Maad City he wasn't confident in his own abilities, but this time around he was gunning for the win. I can only imagine the drive he has going forward and I can't wait to see what he makes next.

 

[neurosisxeno]

At absolutely no slight to you, might I recommend trying the album one more time with Genius.com open to help with the uptake on lyrics? It helped me a great deal as some of the lines really were far beyond my understanding/perspective at a glance.

I get almost all the references, but still don't think it was a once in a lifetime album like people seem to claim. It's a great album, but I think a lot of albums were great albums this past year. I think you have to realize the Grammy's is basically an industry circlejerk, and the quality of the music is just as important as the impact it had on things like Radio play and sales. Taylor Swift crushed Lamar in sales and brand recognition, she basically was the artist of 2015. You couldn't turn on a radio without hearing a few of her songs, and 5 of her singles off 1989 went multi-platinum. That's insane.

I also don't agree with people saying 1989 was YATSA. It was her dropping the country girl facade and finishing the transition to a pop star. You can pick apart her discography but her core demographic was always Country fans, and she did continually have songs heavy with country themes up until Red where it was probably a 50/50 split. It's really hard for artists to switch genres, and Taylor Swift managed it flawlessly. Don't think it's rare? Remember Chris Gaines? Or Weezy's Rock Album? Or whatever the hell Lulu was? Those were all hugely famous artists that in some cases suffered major setbacks to their careers while trying new things.

The Grammys always play it safe. These awards should not be taken seriously, glad that Kendrick still got a lot of attention in spite of the absolutely ludicrous decision to give it to T Swift.

It's not that they play it safe, it's that they clearly favor Pop Music, and always have. Every once in a while they will pick some bizarre choice (Arcade Fire), but usually Album of the Year goes to the biggest Pop or Rock album of that year. They also have a hard on for renowned artists, which kind of explains Beck getting it.

EDIT: Actually, you know what, looking back Album of the Year is always a shit show. There are more great albums that don't win than ones that do win. In Rainbows and Tha Carter III lose to Raising Sand? No thanks.

 

[Psychological Intellect]

I get almost all the references, but still don't think it was a once in a lifetime album like people seem to claim. It's a great album, but I think a lot of albums were great albums this past year. I think you have to realize the Grammy's is basically an industry circlejerk, and the quality of the music is just as important as the impact it had on things like Radio play and sales. Taylor Swift crushed Lamar in sales and brand recognition, she basically was the artist of 2015. You couldn't turn on a radio without hearing a few of her songs, and 5 of her singles off 1989 went multi-platinum. That's insane.

I also don't agree with people saying 1989 was YATSA. It was her dropping the country girl facade and finishing the transition to a pop star. You can pick apart her discography but her core demographic was always Country fans, and she did continually have songs heavy with country themes up until Red where it was probably a 50/50 split. It's really hard for artists to switch genres, and Taylor Swift managed it flawlessly. Don't think it's rare? Remember Chris Gaines? Or Weezy's Rock Album? Or whatever the hell Lulu was? Those were all hugely famous artists that in some cases suffered major setbacks to their careers while trying new things.

 

[neurosisxeno]

Like I said, compare her release of 1989 to Garth Brooks (who was the biggest country star in the 90's) releasing the Chris Gaines album. It's like night and day.

 

[CloudWolf]

The real tragedy of this year's grammy's has nothing to do with hip hop. It's the fact that Kamasi Washington's The Epic wasn't even nominated for best jazz album

Spoiler

and Seth MacFarlane somehow was

 

[Antiwhippy]

How long has it been since the Grammies nominated something other than your regular mainstream vanilla music?

 

[hodayathink]

Like I said, compare her release of 1989 to Garth Brooks (who was the biggest country star in the 90's) releasing the Chris Gaines album. It's like night and day.

I'd argue the difference there is that Taylor Swift has had about 2-3 albums to transition from country to pop (and each one of those was more successful at it than the last), while Garth tried to do it all at once and failed miserably for many reasons. If we're being really honest, Taylor Swift has been transitioning away from country music for as long as she was a country artist in the first place.

 

[SystemBug]

people actually defending 1989 here?

lmao

if taylor wasn't white and made that album it wouldnt have won

 

[neurosisxeno]

people actually defending 1989 here?

lmao

if taylor wasn't white and made that album it wouldnt have won

It outsold Kendrick Lamar's album 10:1, clearly a lot of people liked it. But I'm sure that has nothing to do with it winning, clearly just racism. Kendrick only won 4 Grammy's, practically got robbed.

 

[Eos]

TPAB just wasn't that good

Spoiler

imo

. I respect Kendrick and what he is doing, but I just don't enjoy his music. I think someone else said it best: he should be a poet.
1989 didn't deserve it either. Grammy's was a joke this time.

What didn't you like about it? And have you listened to GKMC?

 

[Cindres]

I mean in the list of noms I totally think TPAB should have won but it does at least get the nomination. It's been said already but the awards are just a big old popularity contest anyway, hip hop gets more recognition than plenty of other genres.

Also the plural of Grammy is Grammys.

Actually fake edit; I think TPAB is probably my favourite album from last year anyway... At least off the top of my head, and I don't like it as much as GKMC

 

[Moonkid]

Surprised at how many people prefer Good kid maad city over To Pimp A Butterfly more than anything to be honest. GKMC has a compelling narrative going for it with some really great music but TPAB offers more in substance and takes the themes and ideas he's always talked about to another level.

TPAB just wasn't that good

Spoiler

imo

. I respect Kendrick and what he is doing, but I just don't enjoy his music. I think someone else said it best: he should be a poet.
1989 didn't deserve it either. Grammy's was a joke this time.

If you respect what he's doing with his pursuit of music, why then suggest he be a poet?

 

[IrishNinja]

kdot got a few (as OP's article said, not the big ones) to change this, but hip hop fans have known about this bias for years, and it makes the grammy's more worthless than usual - absolute icons who shaped the genre never even got a nod.

kendrick advances the medium & captures the era most impressively, and nothing - business as usual. not to diminish the thread - it's absolutely a problem worth discussing - it's just been like this literally for decades now.

 

[aygomyownroad]

You know what the real tragedy is?

The fact that 1989 won, yet the far superior E.MO.TION by Carly Rae wasn't even nominated! The Grammy Awards are a useless mess!

I can't believe this has been posted! This is what I was thinking.

E.MO.TION is a fantastic album best pop album ive streamed. Read an article on it about how no one was buying it due to people dismissing it after "Maybe"

Baby take me to the city...

1989 was a poor album compared to E.MO.TION and was crap compared to Red. Taylor Swift with the whole Apple Music publicity and her stupid Twitter feud's made her relevant the whole year.
E.MO.TION had no fan fare and Carly Rae kept far too quiet through the year.

On topic Rap/Hiphop music has been rubbish for years in my opinion but Kendrick Lamar deserved to win best artist. To Pimp a Butterfly was amazing.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

kdot got a few (as OP's article said, not the big ones) to change this, but hip hop fans have known about this bias for years, and it makes the grammy's more worthless than usual - absolute icons who shaped the genre never even got a nod.

kendrick advances the medium & captures the era most impressively, and nothing - business as usual. not to diminish the thread - it's absolutely a problem worth discussing - it's just been like this literally for decades now.

I agree with a lot of what is said in this thread, and think that TPAB should have gotten the Album award, but going off about how he 'got nothing, business as usual' is just bullshit. He came away with multiple awards and put on what was easily the most impactful performance of the show.

And as I have said earlier, trying to solely narrow this down to a problem with Hip Hop just seems short-sighted. Plenty of other genres suffer just as much or even more when it comes to representation.

I really just don't see it as some evil bias against Hip Hop, but a heavy bias FOR pop.
There is a difference there, even if the results are the same. At least in my opinion.

 

[neurosisxeno]

kendrick advances the medium & captures the era most impressively, and nothing - business as usual. not to diminish the thread - it's absolutely a problem worth discussing - it's just been like this literally for decades now.

It takes genres a long time to get acceptance into the Grammy's. At least Rap music has a variety of categories and has always gone to legitimate Rap Artists for the most part. Compare that to Metal\Hard Rock--which has always been a crapshoot. Jethro Tull won (because they had a flute) the first Metal Grammy, beating out ...And Justice For All by Metallica, which is considered one of the greatest Metal Albums ever.

On top of that there was the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Category that fucking Foo Fighters won over Dream Theater, Mastodon, and Megadeth--also hilariously Sum 41. Granted the second time they did it the next year it was actually given to a Metal Band (Halestorm).

There is still the Best Metal Performance Category that basically is the Metallica Category after the aforementioned 1989 nonsense. Look at the list and you'll notice Metallica basically wins whenever they are nominated, and for the other years it's usually a Hard Rock band beating out a few Metal bands. My favorite is the year a Live version of a 29 year old song beat out 4 Industrial artists (2000). Oh, and last year Tenacious D won, they might as well have been nominating Deathklok at that point...

 

[Meowster]

AOTY is a strange award. Sometimes it goes to the mainstream and successful frontrunner, like Taylor Swift's 1989 or Celine Dion's Falling Into You, or will go towards smaller albums, like Beck last year or when Herbie Hancock shockingly beat and ended Amy Winehouse's string of awards that night. It is a hard one to predict.

 

[Always-honest]

I'm into hip-hop, mostly older stuff, and I kinda feel the same way. Kendrick is clearly a very talented lyricist, but for the most part, his music doesn't do anything for me. Not a fan of his production or beats selection, and his flow rarely does them any favors. There have been many rappers like this that have great skill and/or conscious but lack the ear to make hit tracks to make it complete. I think he was meant to be a poet much more so than a musician.

Out of the entire TPAB album, How Much a Dollar Cost is the only song that comes together for me.

I disagree. His flow, his music, his lyrics, etc.. all make him have way more depth than most music artist out there. I don't even see what the fuck he's doing at the mediocre music awards that is called the Grammys. That's just for the big middle part of the world who don't want to think about music but just listen and move their head to the beat.



/ old man's music rant.

 

[neurosisxeno]

I disagree. His flow, his music, his lyrics, etc.. all make him have way more depth than most music artist out there.

GKMC had better beats and listenability. It had depth while not being convoluted. If musical prowess and things like flow were even considered Tech N9ne would have a few Grammy's by now, or someone like Talib Kwali.

 

[GamerJM]

The Grammys are a joke.

 

[GravityInsanity]

With the Grammys popularity always wins.

 

[Catvoca]

even the rap category was a complete joke
didnt even include DS2, Summertime 06, etc.

They didn't even nominate Run The Jewels 2 for a single award, it's one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2014 (and it was in the voting timeframe for this years grammys).

 

[Skoen]

Seriously people, the grammys are on the same level as the MTV Awards.

It´s about music for the lowest common denominator.

Come on, Taylor Swift even getting nominated?

 

[Randam]

what should rock/metal say??

 

[neurosisxeno]

Easily digestible mainstream songs by a white woman that speak about nothing appeal to more people and therefore sell more? Really? I'm shocked! Ahh!

This comment is so pathetically missing the point, and probably intentionally based on the tone, as the problem isn't the fact that Kendrick already won numerous Grammy awards.

You're trying to inject some level of prestige into the Grammy's that just hasn't been there historically. TPAB is a great album, I have already said that, and not winning album of the year doesn't invalidate that--especially considering the Grammy's are basically a giant Music Industry event. As has been mentioned, most artists that deserve it don't even get nominations because they aren't popular enough. RTJ hasn't gotten nominated, El-p himself has never been nominated despite being a fantastic artist, and Tech N9ne has released enough albums that one of them surely qualified for some category at some point. The Grammy's is an industry even, that's why there's almost no Independent artists represented, and in the Industry sales and brand recognition absolutely matter.

The biggest injustice was Kendrick Lamar losing to Macklemore--GKMC was clearly the better Rap Album, but they couldn't give Macklemore any other awards (since Daft Punk was clearly the chosen ones that year) but not best Rap Album. I mean looking back there are plenty of years where the winners are garbage--2007, that Luda album was weak compared to Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor, and even King by T.I., and I think in 2015 Childish Gambino should have won because MMLP2 was a handful of good songs and the rest was rehashed Eminem.

 

[neurosisxeno]

The Grammy's are important for the artist's career, even though I personally do not see it as a measure of quality, winning (especially in a major category) has the potential to be significant for their career and even the genre overall (as is the case here).

The exposure argument kinda falls apart when you consider that he got to perform at the event--and gave an amazing performance. He also had a guest spot on the hottest mainstream song of the summer (Bad Blood) with Taylor Swift herself--his presence on that song also brought almost nothing to it imo, it was clearly a career-oriented decision for both.

 

[cw_sasuke]

I really like Kendrick but TPAB is overrated as fuck...at least on GAF. Its a very good album but not Hip Hops Holy, people act as if way better than GKMC...its not, its very different and depending on your personal taste you can appreciate on a different level.

I dont like Switft but her album was very popular, she had a bunch of successful singles and is arguably the biggest musician right now (leaving Adele out because she is special lol)...her winning is no surprise and the win is deserved.

Kendrick has the best hip hop album..their isnt more to achieve for him, winning album of the year means he has to represent a safer music genre that more people can relate to...thats why Pop dominates. If their is a strong Pop/Soul contender they will always outshine other genres at the Grammys.

 

[Protome]

Is this Hip Hop gaf's equivelant of Bloodborne during GOTY?
Where does rock gaf stand on this? I know I'd take Drones over either of these albums any day.

 

[SystemBug]

It outsold Kendrick Lamar's album 10:1, clearly a lot of people liked it. But I'm sure that has nothing to do with it winning, clearly just racism. Kendrick only won 4 Grammy's, practically got robbed.

Why is art being judged on commercial success? The fuck is this shit? You think Transformers movies are amazing because they put asses to the seats?

Is this Hip Hop gaf's equivelant of Bloodborne during GOTY?
Where does rock gaf stand on this? I know I'd take Drones over either of these albums any day.

I was a rock head before I even gave Hiphop a shot.

Drones is garbage compared to what Kendrick put out. Same retread of what Muse has been doing for a decade

 

[theignoramus]

I wanted to like 1989 when I bumped it last summer, thinking it would go all in on that 80s synth sound...I was wrong.
I don't even know what to make of Swift compared to her colleagues in the genre, what about her is even distinctive? I wish Amy Winehouse was still around.

 

[Auctopus]

Not more than any other year.

RED was a better album than 1989 but GKMC still is the best album there.