{"id":46396,"date":"2025-02-04T09:41:29","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T13:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/?p=46396"},"modified":"2025-02-04T09:41:29","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T13:41:29","slug":"opinion-grammys-galore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/opinion\/2025\/02\/04\/opinion-grammys-galore\/","title":{"rendered":"OPINION: Grammy’s Galore"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday, February 2nd,\u00a0 CBS\u2019s 67th Grammy Awards streamed and the music industry was shown on display. From Taylor Swift to Stevie Wonder, the best of the best attended the event. Of course naturally, after any award show everyone has their opinions and so here\u2019s mine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking at the \u201cbig 4\u201d awards only: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Firstly looking at Record of the Year which according to USNews is \u201crecognizing a song for its full production and thus also awarding the artists, producers and engineers involved.\u201d This year\u2019s nominees were:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNow and Then\u201d – The Beatles (Giles Martin & Paul McCartney, producers; Geoff Emerick, Steve Genewick, Jon Jacobs, Greg McAllister, Steve Orchard, Keith Smith, Mark ‘Spike’ Stent & Bruce Sugar, engineers\/mixers; Miles Showell, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” \u2013\u00a0 Beyonc\u00e9 (Beyonc\u00e9, Nate Ferraro, Killah B & Raphael Saadiq, producers; Hotae Alexander Jang, Alex Nibley & Stuart White, engineers\/mixers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

“Espresso” \u2013 Sabrina Carpenter (Julian Bunetta, producer; Julian Bunetta & Jeff Gunnell, engineers\/mixers; Nathan Dantzler, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

“360” \u2013 Charli xcx (Cirkut & A. G. Cook, producers; Cirkut & Manny Marroquin, engineers\/mixers; Idania Valencia, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” \u2013 Billie Eilish (FINNEAS & Billie Eilish, producers; Thom Beemer, Jon Castelli, Billie Eilish, Aron Forbes, Brad Lauchert, FINNEAS & Chaz Sexton, engineers\/mixers; Dale Becker, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

“Not Like Us” \u2013 Kendrick Lamar (Sean Momberger, Mustard & Sounwave, producers; Ray Charles Brown Jr. & Johnathan Turner, engineers\/mixers; Nicolas de Porcel, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

“Good Luck, Babe!” \u2013\u00a0 Chappell Roan (Dan Nigro, producer; Mitch McCarthy & Dan Nigro, engineers\/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

“Fortnight” \u2013 Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone (Jack Antonoff, Louis Bell & Taylor Swift, producers; Louis Bell, Bryce Bordone, Serban Ghenea, Sean Hutchinson, Oli Jacobs, Michael Riddleberger & Laura Sisk, engineers\/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

A very competitive category full of talented artists and very popular songs. In the end “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar came home with the win. Personally I think this is a good option and this song is definitely worthy of this award, it\u2019s production is spot on. Additionally, I believe other great choices for this award were “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, “360” by Charli xcx, and “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” by Beyonc\u00e9.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now for Album of the Year, one of the most sought after awards in the music industry. The nominees were:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

New Blue Sun \u2013 Andr\u00e9 3000<\/span><\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9 3000 & Carlos Ni\u00f1o, producers; Andr\u00e9 3000, Carlos Ni\u00f1o & Ken Oriole, engineers\/mixers; Andr\u00e9 3000, Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau & Carlos Ni\u00f1o, songwriters; Andy Kravitz, mastering engineer<\/span><\/p>\n

COWBOY CARTER \u2013 Beyonc\u00e9 (Beyonc\u00e9, Terius “The-Dream” Gesteelde-Diamant & Dave Hamelin, producers; Matheus Braz, Brandon Harding, Hotae Alexander Jang, Dani Pampuri & Stuart White, engineers\/mixers; Ryan Beatty, Beyonc\u00e9, Camaron Ochs, Terius “The-Dream” Gesteelde-Diamant, Dave Hamelin, S. Carter & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

Short n’ Sweet \u2013 Sabrina Carpenter (Jack Antonoff, Julian Bunetta, Ian Kirkpatrick & John Ryan, producers; Bryce Bordone, Julian Bunetta, Serban Ghenea, Jeff Gunnell, Oli Jacobs, Manny Marroquin, John Ryan & Laura Sisk, engineers\/mixers; Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff, Julian Bunetta, Sabrina Carpenter, Ian Kirkpatrick, Julia Michaels & John Ryan, songwriters; Nathan Dantzler & Ruairi O’Flaherty, mastering engineers)<\/span><\/p>\n

BRAT \u2013 Charli xcx (Charli xcx, Cirkut & A. G. Cook, producers; A. G. Cook, Tom Norris & Geoff Swan, engineers\/mixers; Charlotte Aitchison, Henry Walter, Alexander Guy Cook, Finn Keane & Jonathan Christopher Shave, songwriters; Idania Valencia, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

Djesse Vol. 4 \u2013 Jacob Collier (Jacob Collier, producer; Ben Bloomberg, Jacob Collier & Paul Pouwer, engineers\/mixers; Jacob Collier, songwriter; Chris Allgood & Emily Lazar, mastering engineers)<\/span><\/p>\n

HIT ME HARD AND SOFT \u2013 Billie Eilish (FINNEAS, producer; Thom Beemer, Jon Castelli, Billie Eilish, Aron Forbes, Brad Lauchert, FINNEAS & Chaz Sexton, engineers\/mixers; Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters; Dale Becker, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess \u2013 Chappell Roan (Daniel Nigro, producer; Mitch McCarthy & Daniel Nigro, engineers\/mixers; Daniel Nigro & Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT \u2013 Taylor Swift (Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, producers; Zem Audu, Bella Blasko, Bryce Bordone, Serban Ghenea, David Hart, Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Oli Jacobs, Jonathan Low, Michael Riddleberger, Christopher Rowe, Laura Sisk & Evan Smith, engineers\/mixers; Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The last award of the evening had everyone on the edge of their seats. I believed it was going to be between Taylor Swift or Beyonc\u00e9. Both are big household names and deserving of this award. I also noted that if the Recording Academy wanted to throw a curveball it could have gone to Charli xcx\u2019s BRAT, an album that moved global culture this past year. In the end Beyonc\u00e9 won Album of the Year for COWBOY CARTER. This moment is historical as Beyonc\u00e9 has never won this prestigious award in her successful 30+ year career. Additionally, Beyonc\u00e9 is the first Black woman to receive this honor in the 21st century. While as a major \u201cswiftie\u201d I was a little bummed Taylor Swift didn\u2019t win, Beyonc\u00e9 did 100% deserve this recognition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Next for Song of the Year which honors the songwriters. The nominees this year were:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” \u2014 Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams, songwriters (Shaboozey)<\/span><\/p>\n

“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” \u2014 Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)<\/span><\/p>\n

“Die With A Smile” \u2014 Dernst Emile II, James Fauntleroy, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars)<\/span><\/p>\n

“Fortnight” \u2014 Jack Antonoff, Austin Post & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone)<\/span><\/p>\n

“Good Luck, Babe!” \u2014 Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, Daniel Nigro & Justin Tranter, songwriters (Chappell Roan)<\/span><\/p>\n

“Not Like Us” \u2014 Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Please Please Please” \u2014 Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter, songwriters (Sabrina Carpenter)<\/span><\/p>\n

“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” \u2014 Brian Bates, Atia Boggs, Beyonc\u00e9, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan B\u00fclow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Beyonc\u00e9)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When looking at the Grammy\u2019s I love to see as many different artists win awards. I think it\u2019s great to see 4 different artists at the \u201cbig 4\u201d awards. So “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar winning this award was a little bit of a let down for me. I really saw “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish or “Please Please Please” by Sabrina Carpenter winning this one. However it\u2019s great to see a rap song get recognition at the Grammy\u2019s because it\u2019s often that they get underrepresented<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, the most competitive and hard to predict category, Best New Artist. This year\u2019s nominees were:<\/span><\/p>\n

Benson Boone<\/span><\/p>\n

Sabrina Carpenter<\/span><\/p>\n

Doechii<\/span><\/p>\n

Khruangbin<\/span><\/p>\n

Raye<\/span><\/p>\n

Chappell Roan\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shaboozey<\/span><\/p>\n

Teddy Swims\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was amazing that the Grammy\u2019s had every nominee perform during the show, it truly demonstrated how competitive this category was. It was killer performance after killer performance. I believed it was going to either be Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, or Doechii. All three of them had the best performances of the evening and had a breakout year. Chappel Roan came home with the win and it was great to hear her speech addressing the lack of protections from record labels for artists, even with her quirky attitude.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another historical moment that occurred last night was Doechii winning Best Rap Album for Alligator Bites Never Heal, which makes her the third black woman to receive this achievement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally the event took place at Crypto.com Arena located in Downtown Los Angeles which sparked a movement of donations for the recent LA wildfires tragedy, that summed to $7 million. It was additionally inspiring how they included free advertisements for small Los Angeles businesses to provide their support. It\u2019s great to see how our community can come together through a time of suffering to help each other while putting on this entertaining, fantastic award show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday, February 2nd,\u00a0 CBS\u2019s 67th Grammy Awards streamed and the music industry was shown on display. From Taylor Swift to Stevie Wonder, the best of the best attended the event. Of course naturally, after any award show everyone has their opinions and so here\u2019s mine.\u00a0 Looking at the \u201cbig 4\u201d awards only: Record of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,11],"tags":[],"staff_name":[1432],"class_list":["post-46396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-top-stories","staff_name-cate-trapani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46396"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46399,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46396\/revisions\/46399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46396"},{"taxonomy":"staff_name","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/staff_name?post=46396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}