Grammediocrity – Mediocre Grammy Nominees
So it’s that time of the year when the ballooning of Christmas signals the Grammy’s. This year’s list of nominations has a mixture of the old and new artists. I would like to shed light on record of the year, album of the year, song of the year, rap album of the year and other pop categories.
When it comes to pop culture all our information comes from television, MTV, Much Music, BET and as evident most of the nominations are people we have been seen repeatedly on TV and heard on the radio. I would like to start with best rap solo performance which has Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Lupe Fiasco, Nas and Snoop Dogg. As much as one would like to think that this group is filled with big guns; with the exception of Lupe and Nas we have a bunch of egotistic men who have nothing to offer the youth of today and society in general. Jay-Z is an intelligent man that has a drive to be great but only in the materialistic realm; Lil Wayne is a boy-man trying to deceive the world by saying he is the greatest rap artist alive, with songs like Lollipop, I beg to differ. And may I also add that Lollipop was nominated for Best Rap song. I refuse to even venture to talk about Snoop Dogg an old school icon that has drifted to the level of impotence. With regards to substantial issues I would rate Lupe and Nas as “Egyptian Pharaohs.” I have always commented on Nas’s depth and intellect. Mr Lupe has lyrical rhyme that has always been phenomenal. My verdict is Nas will be robbed of the chance of getting his first Grammy, and Lupe will not be able to handle the star powered irrelevance of “The Three Stooges.”
The Rhythm and Blues category is also lacking any form of depth, with the exception of the nominations of soul great Al Green and Rapheal Saddiq. The other mentions namely Neyo, Eric Benet, Keshia Cole, Jennifer Hudson, Boyz II Men, Jazmine Sullivan, Usher, Trey Songz, Chris Brown, Beyonce all represent the era of “all about flash” and no substance. Rhythm and Blues, a music genre, which was once full of spirit and substance, has been reduced to Club music. I wonder what the panel at the Grammy’s were thinking, I guess it has become more of a popularity contest than celebrating music artists who produce work that is meaningful and artistic.
On the Rock-N-Roll side, things weren’t any better, The Eagles, Bruce Springsteen and AC/DC headline the old school guys. Coldplay, Radiohead, The Raconteurs, Kid Rock and Metallica were on the young side of fifty. I must applaud Coldplay and Radiohead for trying to instill some ingenuity in most of their songs but then again I think all the names mentioned lack substance and zeal. Not to forget also that Coldplay was just sued by Joe Satriani for plagiarism.
Record of the year was quite interesting, Adele, Coldplay, Leona Lewis, M.I.A, and Robert Plant & Alison Krauss headline this category. M.I.A had a very dynamic album; the rest of the pack still didn’t do it for me. What are the prerequisites for album of the year? Can anyone answer that for me? I thought it was suppose to have a positive influence on society, say like Marvin Gaye’s “Whats Going On” or Bob Marley’s “Exodus”.
The state of music is really deplorable, I think there is plenty of blame to go around, but majority lies on us, we need to step up our intellect, we can’t settle for mediocrity. We must strive to achieve the best spiritually, mentally and physically. I think that will enable us to differentiate irrelevant music from substantial music. “I Kissed a Girl” is a song that should not gather rave attention and awards, can we please stop acting indifferent to impotence, and rise up to relevance and purpose.
Chasing Pavements by Adele
Paper Planes by M.I.A.
Tags: opinion
The state of music is “fine”. Sure there’s less money to be made by the big boys but if you are here reading this blog, you’ve done your part to not accept the terrible music that is currently being shoved down your throat in terms of television and radio. New media ftw.