And the Award Goes To...
So, it's starting to feel a lot like Christmas. This also means that the annual Grammy awards show is right around the corner and peeking its head out wondering when its gonna be its time to play.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of giving out subjective awards on such a grand scale because they are left to a matter of opinion by a committee that determines whether a project that took months or years to make is just as good as another project that has a completely different emotional motivation.
Nevertheless, it is a great arena to project the future of the industry itself. One huge Grammy nomination opens up many doors for an artist and can put them on track into either becoming a forgotten gem or a legend of the industry.
This years lineup is particularly interesting after the large fiasco (no Lupe!) that occured during the award show victory of Macklemore earlier this year. The hiphop community didn't take too kindly to Mr. Macklemore taking the crown from King Kendrick after the release of his much lauded and masterful album Good Kid Mad City.
This argument caused a heated debate crossing branching paths in race, political unrest(Macklemore's outspoken defense of Gay rights), and the changing tide of power between whites and blacks in hiphop.
Moving to almost a year later, and we have a similar situation which has many fans and even other hip hop artists rolling their eyes at certain nominees (particularly Iggy Azalea).
In any event, let's take a look at the nominees for best rap album this year. In the running we have Iggy Azalea, Schoolboy Q, Common, Childish Gambino (personal favorite of mine), Eminem,and Wiz Khalifa. It is certainly an interesting assortment of artists that fill different niches in the rap community.
Common and Eminem represent an old guard of classic artists who have been well established and critically acclaimed. They're a pretty safe option to put in the running because both have a long pedigree and few would argue with the choice even if their albums weren't that good(I personally was very disappointed by the MMLP2).
Schoolboy Q and Wiz Khalifa are also interesting picks. Schoolboy has had a great run this year with dominating sales early on and a solid album with multiple hit songs (I personally am a big fan of Studio, Collard Greens, and Gangster).Schoolboy has certainly put in the work this year to come out of his fellow TDE brother Kendrick Lamar's shadow and establish himself as a mainstream artist.
Wiz also had a very successful album with strong first week sales as well. Even with the controversy of his pending divorce, with little competition this summer, Wiz dominated the summer with his album with varying mixed reviews but overall positive sentiment.
Both Wiz and Schoolboy fit a very comfortable role for fans with a sound flavored towards "gangsta" and "drug" rap. With the changing trends in hip hop towards a different kind of sound from artists, both of these gentleman reach out to people who want a sound and lyrics that relate more to the street life that was made popular in the 90's.
Finally, we come down to two artists who are kinda the obvious elephants in the room, Childish Gambino and Iggy Azalea. Childish Gambino, for any who don't know, rose to fame first as an actor on the show community. While that show was going on he slowly but surely had been putting together music projects to increasing stages of success. After the release of his first commercial album Camp in 2011, his popularity with fans increased (despite poor album sales and poor reviews) leading to the release of his 2013 album "Because the Internet" which to everyone's surprise sold very well and landed in the Billboard top 10 in its first month.
Iggy Azalea the standout superstar who was found by T.I. in Australia has had a stellar year as well. With the release of her single "Fancy" (I know you've heard it, everyone has!) , she blew up into stardom seemingly overnight. Her album "The New Classic" did reasonably well in her debut with mixed reviews as well.
So why is this year's cast controversial?
For many, it is just a lingering repeat of this years Grammys and a sign of things to come. Every artist on this list put a lot of work into their albums and have earned their spot in the industry. Win or lose, you cannot take away the accomplishments of these talented individuals.
The root of the problem is unfortunately, Iggy Azalea. It has nothing to do with her abilities as an artist(well some would argue that she is not as talented as she is lauded to be but that's another matter), it actually is due to an issue that is no fault of her own.
The loss of Kendrick Lamar to Macklemore earlier this year left the hip hop community with a very sour taste in their mouth. It felt as though, the fans were robbed of a moment in history in which a significantly masterful work (GKMC) was not awarded all the things it deserved.
Now heading into this next Grammy award show, there is this expectation that yet another white artist is taking the crown, and that the bias of the award show is beginning to rear its ugly head.
Personally, I believe that the controversy has some merit but there are other issues that are really at the forefront. If it was Eminem who had won the Grammy it wouldn't have had nearly as much controversy. Why is that? Because we are comfortable with him and he has proven himself as a consistent artist.
Iggy Azalea much like Macklemore are both pretty much overnight sensations. Their library of work is so small in comparison to other artists that its difficult to put them on that top level.
Also, the sound and image they portray isn't that of the typical hip hop artist. Their image portrays more of the pop star ideology. And nothing, I mean nothing agitates die hard hip hop fans more than the sound of pop.
To many, it feels as though they are trying to take the rap industry into a poppier sound but at the same time taking away the struggles and values that are also upheld in the industry as well.
They portray a new kind of artist, one that is cleaner and more in tune to pop culture while removing the grimy rigidness that hip hop has been known for so long.
Around Grammy season we shall see what story is told, whether the story will be a repeat or a time for change. Either way, times are changing for the industry but hopefully the most deserved artist wins whomever that may be. If you're around a TV during Grammy season stay tuned to see the results. I'll actually have my popcorn ready for the aftermath more than anything.
Be easy
Keem
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