By KEVIN JACOB
Staff Writer
Welcome all to another edition of Kickin’ It. I know I didn’t write anything last week and I really wanted to write something this week. I’ll save more reviews for next week, but this week I’m going to be tackling a different bear altogether: the Grammys.
Now, the people who vote on the Grammys, to be honest, don’t know anything about real music. That in itself is already a problem. For example, Paul McCartney won some song for Best Rock Song called “Cut Me Some Slack.” Now, let’s break down how this DECENT song won.
First off, you’ve a Beatle involved, so you already know that the panels have a hard-on. Add in two of Nirvana’s three members, and they’ve got a diamond on their hands. Then you look at the other songs that were up against them. You had Black Sabbath and The Rolling Stones, who, again, are both pretty old, and then you have Gary Clark ,Jr. and Muse. To be honest, Gary Clark probably had the best song in there. But the way the committee thinks is that, “Well, we’ve got some guys that we rarely see, some metal punks, and the Stones… wait, look at this… oh, there’s a Beatle with a song on there? And Dave Grohl? Winner.” More than likely, that’s how that conversation went.
You see, with the Grammys, it’s the name which is the reason that certain artists win, rather than the music. Jay-Z won for “Holy Grail” for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, which he did with Justin Timberlake. I’ll give you that the song is alright, but when you look up at what was facing it, it’s obvious that this one was going to dominate. Basically, all of the other songs in that category were mediocre at best.
So there you have Jay-Z who, although he may not have put out the best song ever, wins the award. This is also because the Grammys love Jay-Z. I mean, the guy’s got so many that he referenced this one as a sippy cup for his newborn. Not that Hov doesn’t deserve Grammy credit, because he does, but when you’re name is associated with as many awards as his or Paul McCartney are, then it doesn’t matter. If your name is nominated for a certain category, then most likely you’re going to win it, no matter what.
This leads me to my biggest problem with the Grammys. If you think what I’ve written is hating, or whatever you want to call it, then you’re going to want to stop reading because this next topic I was a bit more salty at. A certain somebody cleaned up at the Grammys. A certain rapper, surprisingly. But that’s not a surprise, as he did dominate quite a bit last year. This man’s name is Macklemore (I’m not including Ryan Lewis).
Macklemore won every major rap award during the Grammys and I, for one, think that it’s complete and utter bullsh*t. The only thing that I might remotely get is giving “Thrift Shop” the Best Rap Song award because not only was it catchy, but it was everywhere. I’ll give him that. But to give this man BEST RAP ALBUM OF THE YEAR?!?!?! That’s where I finally saw the Grammys for the hoax that it is.
You’re going to tell me that The Heist was better then Yeezus, Nothing Was the Same, Magna Carta Holy Grail, and the one that should have won, Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City? Go f**k yourself Grammys. Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City was called “the first classic album since Illmatic,” yet it somehow lost to Macklemore? I don’t understand it. In my eyes, Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City was a great album. It perfectly captured what it’s like growing up in the perils of Compton, California. Macklemore’s album, although it had some good songs with a message that you don’t normally see in rap music, was waaaaaay too inconsistent. For example, you have “White Walls,” which is an ode to Cadillacs. Pretty in-depth about cars, whatever, and then bam, you’re hit with “Jimmy Iovine,” which is about the music industry, and then “Wings,” which is all about basketball. Are these all great songs?
But going in-depth on one topic, then completely flipping the script without having other songs to tie in said topic is odd to me. The Heist is more of a collection of songs/singles than a cohesive album. And for the record, I don’t hate Macklemore. In fact, I thought his The VS. Redux EP that he dropped a couple of years ago was pretty good. But I hated The Heist.
I also believe that Macklemore might’ve won because of “Same Love.” But that’s for another time and another article, because I don’t think a lot of people would appreciate my comments on that one.
So in the end, did the Grammys get anything right? Maybe. It was good to see Daft Punk clean up, mainly because not only are they really great and fun for the industry, but “Get Lucky,” although always on the air, was so damn good. The rest of the album was pretty good, too. I also thought it was good to see Lorde win because “Royals” is a great song. Point blank. That performance she did though? Jesus. It wasn’t exactly good. But for the most part, the Grammys got everything wrong. From McCartney to Macklemore and even having Vampire Weekend winning over Tame Impala just proved that the Grammys is now a joke and just an entertaining awards show instead of meaning something for music.
That’s all for this week’s edition of Kickin’ It. Hopefully back to the grind next week as well. Peace everybody.
