“You Have To Be Shitting Me”: Everyone’s Still Pissed At The Grammys
All hail Lorde's subtweet.
The Grammys have got it wrong before (Macklemore beating Kendrick in 2014, anyone?) but yesterday’s 2018 ceremony truly lowered the bar for the annual awards show.
Bruno Mars dominated the award ceremony, taking home six trophies for his album 24k Magic, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. He even beat out a field of objectively stronger entries — Lorde’s Melodrama, Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN., Childish Gambino’s Awaken, My Love, and Jay-Z’s 4:44 — to win the biggest award of the night, Album of the Year.
Canadian singer Alessia Cara was the only (we repeat, the only) female artist to win a Grammy in the popular music categories this year (that’s pop, rap, country, rock, and R&B.) She won for Best New Artist over acts like SZA and Khalid — an outcome that raised a few eyebrows, mostly because Cara’s debut album came out way back in 2015.
In response to the dearth of non-male winners, Recording Association president Neil Portnow helpfully suggested that women just need to “step up.”
Cool.
So there was a lot to be frustrated about, and viewers weren’t the only ones feeling annoyed.
Last night, Bon Iver main man (and Grammy winner) Justin Vernon labelled the Awards a “shitshow” on Twitter:
scanning headlines after playing Mexico City last night (holy shit did we feel at home… Unbeelievable city)
Looks like Grammies are still something serious musicians should not take seriously !Absolutely NO offense to Mr Mars, but you absolutely have to be shitting me. 1/2
— blobtower (@blobtower) January 29, 2018
To be factual, Mr Mars made a name in the INDUSTRY by making hits OUT of hits of yesteryear (see: https://t.co/pnZWXdQD3L)
SO… no real need to be mad, even, at the Grammies.
SZA? KENDRICK?I’d say move on from this shit show.
Felt like a Democratic Party Party, not R’n’Roll
— blobtower (@blobtower) January 29, 2018
The Grammies are for the music Industry. Music, itself, is for everywhere else and everyone else. Good to remember.
— blobtower (@blobtower) January 28, 2018
Lorde, who was the only Album of the Year nominee not offered a solo performance slot, had this to say:
IF YOU’RE DEBATING WHETHER OR NOT I CAN MURDER A STAGE… COME SEE IT FOR URSELF ?https://t.co/BeS8VYTynn
— Lorde (@lorde) January 29, 2018
Her tweet was in response to Grammys spokesperson Ken Ehrlich, who yesterday offered a very weak explanation as to why she wasn’t offered a performance spot:
“There’s no way we can really deal with everybody,” he told the post-awards press conference. “Sometimes people get left out that shouldn’t, but on the other hand, we did the best we can to make sure that it’s a representative and balanced show.”
It’s curious they couldn’t find the time for Lorde, given that Sting and Shaggy wasted plenty of airspace with their Carpool Karaoke sketch and a performance of their terrible single ‘Don’t Make Me Wait‘. And no, they weren’t nominated for anything.
At the time of writing, #GrammysSoMale is still trending worldwide. Vernon was right: it was a fucking shitshow.