| Everyone’s saying, ‘Oh, my God, this is crazy, where did this come from?’ It came from us in the dark in a f***ing trailer. |
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| Queen of the Grammys: Beyoncé at the 2017 ceremony, Feb. 12, 2017, Los Angeles. |
| (Kevin Winter/Getty Images) |
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| quote of the day |
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| rantnrave:// |
Break My Songwriter’s Soul
So. You don’t need me to tell you the 2023 GRAMMY nominations are the usual mishmash of things that make total sense, things that don’t, things that make you smile, things that make you check your watch to see what decade and/or century it is, and things that remind you they really do have categories for “Progressive R&B,” “Traditional R&B,” regular “R&B,” “Contemporary Instrumental” and “Melodic Rap.” You’ve got the entire music internet to tell you about that. Snubs. Surprises. More snubs. More surprises. Still more. Grammys being Grammys. Let us stipulate that we’re all entirely thrilled for the entirely deserving BEYONCÉ, whose field-leading nine nominations, including for Album, Record and Song of the Year, puts her in a tie with her husband as the most-nominated artists ever and leaves her in position to become the artist with the most Grammy wins—passing SIR GEORG SOLTI—if enough things go right in February. And thrilled, too, for KENDRICK LAMAR and HARRY STYLES and BAD BUNNY and LIZZO and LATTO and STEVE LACY and such happy surprises as GLORILLA (Best Rap Performance), GUNNA (Rap Performance and Rap Song), TURNSTILE (three rock noms), AROOJ AFTAB (Global Performance), who’s now been on the Grammy rolls an improbable two years in a row, and WET LEG (Best New Artist and more), who, “adorably, have no idea what the Grammys are.” We can relate. Often, looking at the nominees and the winners, neither do we. I believe we can also stipulate that ABBA being nominated for Record of the Year in 2022 was, let’s say, interesting, and Abba being nominated for the same award plus Album of the Year in 2023 is, well, let’s just say it’s too bad the Recording Academy assures us there’s no backroom wheeling and dealing or any other kind of corrupt activity going on, because that would have been a better explanation than anything the Academy is likely to come up with.
So, anyway, what I really want to talk about today are songwriters. Specifically the names of people who write songs and who this year finally got their own dedicated Songwriter of the Year category, which the Academy made a big deal about, because without songs there is nothing and the Academy is a believer in crediting everyone involved in creating them. The five inaugural nominees for what’s officially called Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical, are AMY ALLEN, NIJA CHARLES, TOBIAS JESSO JR., THE-DREAM and LAURA VELTZ. Congratulations all. Strangely, they were the *only* songwriters whose names were mentioned in the hourlong nominations rollout even though scores of other songwriters were nominated for various Grammys. The nominees for Album of the Year and Record of the Year were introduced, as you’d expect, by song/album title and artist name. But the Song of the Year nominees were introduced simply by song title, as if anyone watching would automatically understand what “JUST LIKE THAT” and “AS IT WAS” are. Likewise for R&B Song, Country Song and other best-song categories. Various presenters dutifully read the names of the nominated songs and ignored the name of their writers. Maybe, one imagines, the Academy was trying to save time, because a few songs have seven or eight credited writers. But whose time was being saved? This wasn’t a TV show, it was a livestream. And besides, that sounds like an argument SPOTIFY might once have made: “Sorry, it's just too much trouble to credit all those people.” Besides being awkward and unhelpful—was anyone watching supposed to know what the nominated rock song “BLACKOUT,” unattached to any artist or writer, is?—it was dismissive of the behind-the-scenes creators the Academy has spent years trying to promote, and who were finally supposed to get their flowers this year. Dear Academy: You get one more chance at the actual awards, on Feb. 5. Give them their credits.
Grammy Etc Etc Etc
Rolling Stone’s ANDRE GEE writes, “They Still Can’t Get Rap Right.” But “there were fewer glaring mistakes in this year’s nominations,” so there’s that, in case, say, DRAKE is reading... See also: DENZEL CURRY... The Tennessean’s MARCUS K. DOWLING suggests the Grammys may be doing a better job than either the CMAs or the ACMs at recognizing the women of country... CHRIS RICHARDS of the Washington Post noticed a lot of weird capitalization among the nominated artists and songs, and saw a message about the Academy’s “endless uniformity”... Three of the five nominees for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album are Christmas albums, which, with all due respect to the holiday, might be a sign that it’s time to retire that one... CYNDI LAUPER closed the nominations livestream with an acoustic version of her pro-choice song “SALLY’S PIGEONS”... BAD BUNNY, nominated for Album of the Year but overlooked in several other categories, is the top nominee for the LATIN GRAMMYS, which will be broadcast from Las Vegas Thursday night on Univision.
Non-Grammy Etc Etc Etc
TAYLOR SWIFT tickets went on sale Tuesday at TICKETMASTER, which crashed in several cities under the weight of the overwhelming demand, and SEATGEEK and, despite the primary sellers’ Verified Fan program, at resale sites like STUBHUB, where some seats were being offered for upwards of $20,000. Fans were frustrated and livid, as were at least two members of congress. “Completely unacceptable,” tweeted DAVID N. CICILLINE, who represents Rhode Island. New York’s ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ wrote, “Break them up”... MARIAH CAREY can not, legally, have Christmas all to herself... OFFSET and QUAVO on TAKEOFF... JAH WOBBLE on KEITH LEVENE... COACHELLA NFTs tangled up in the FTX mess.
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| - Matty Karas (@troubledoll), curator |
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Music Ally |
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| How gaming could reshape music distribution (guest column) |
| By Roman Rappak |
| This is a guest post by Roman Rappak, of the band Miro Shot, and co-founder of music metaverse startup Ristband. He’s been performing and touring live mixed reality concerts since 2017, creating digital twins of live events in his metaverse platform. |
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NPR Music |
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| There's still no one like Santigold |
| By Julianne Escobedo Shepherd |
| On the startlingly direct "Spirituals," and in headline-grabbing rebukes of music's trickle-down economy, Santi White is what she's always been: a forward-thinking alternative to pop's here and now. |
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Complex |
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| On the Exploitation of Black Rappers’ Deaths |
| By Nicolas-Tyrell Scott |
| Just weeks ago, as singer and rapper PnB Rock’s body lay in his own blood, blogs and social media users circulated the clips of his murder with the ease of a few clicks. |
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The New York Times |
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| Rauw Alejandro’s Cosmic Reggaeton Takes Flight |
| By Isabelia Herrera |
| On his third album, “Saturno,” the Puerto Rican musician further reimagines the genre, drawing on the worlds of Miami bass, late ’90s underground and freestyle music. |
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The Ringer |
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| Where Did All the New Pop Stars Go? |
| By Charles Holmes and Justin Sayles |
| Charles Holmes sits down with resident Ringer producer Justin Sayles to discuss the state--or lack thereof--of new artists. The guys examine what it means to be a new artist in 2022 and the rate at which listening to music is drastically changing. |
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Broken Record |
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| Broken Record: Maggie Rogers |
| By Leah Rose and Maggie Rogers |
| Maggie Rogers on becoming a student again and the song from her new album that is the perfect distillation of where she is at now as an artist. |
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| what we're into |
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| Music of the day |
| “The Heart Part 5” |
| Kendrick Lamar |
| "Life is perspective / And my perspective may differ from yours." Grammy-nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Rap Performance, Rap Song and Music Video. |
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| Music | Media |
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Suggest a link  |
| “REDEF is dedicated to my mother, who nurtured and encouraged my interest in everything and slightly regrets the day she taught me to always ask ‘why?’” |
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