GRAMMYS

Jay-Z Gave A Divine Performance Of ‘God Did’ With DJ Khaled At The 2023 Grammys

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The week leading up to the Grammys is one of the most exciting in music, just for the sheer fun of speculating who will win and wondering what the performances will look like. But that still pales in comparison to actually watching the performances, when the nominated acts pull out all the stops. This year, in addition to a tribute to 50 years of hip-hop, the ceremony included a rare appearance by Jay-Z, who joined his collaborator DJ Khaled for a breathless performance of the song “God Did” from Khaled’s album of the same name.

Joined by Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend, and Giveon, the group performed outside the Staples Center — sorry, Crypto.com arena — at an opulently-laid dinner table.

They didn’t only perform the song; they were also nominated for Song Of The Year, Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Song, putting Jay in a tie for most-nominated artist of all time. His only competition? Why, his wife Beyoncé, of course. They both had 88 nominations total, although Beyoncé had more nominations this year with nine — and the opportunity to become the most-awarded artist ever. She accomplished it thanks to winning won Best Dance/Electronic Recording for “Break My Soul” and Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Plastic Off The Sofa” ahead of the televised ceremony and Best Electronic/Dance Album.

You can see the full list of winners here.

Harry Styles Won Album Of The Year At The 2023 Grammys

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The most coveted of the “big four” Grammy Awards — Album Of The Year, New Artist Of The Year, Record Of The Year, and Song Of The Year — is pretty unanimously the award for Album Of The Year. This year, the field faced some pretty staunch competition, with selections from a wide variety of genres and both contemporary and legacy artists vying for the prestige that comes with a win.

The nominees included ABBA, nominated for their new album Voyage; Adele, nominated for 30, won with her last release, 25, in 2015; Bad Bunny, who has the first Spanish-language album ever to be nominated for the award in Un Verano Sin Ti; Beyoncé for Renaissance, whose album Lemonade was nominated alongside 25; Coldplay’s Music Of The Spheres; Harry Styles, whose third album Harry’s House marks his first-ever Album Of The Year nomination; Kendrick Lamar, nominated for his comeback album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers; Lizzo’s Special; and Mary J. Blige, whose album Good Morning Gorgeous garnered the R&B mainstay’s first nomination since 2014 (and second overall).

And while all are worthwhile entries, only one can win. So, the 2023 Album Of The Year is Harry’s House by Harry Styles.

You can see the full list of winners for the evening here.

Steve Lacy And Thundercat Delivered An Infectious Performance Of ‘Bad Habit’ At The 2023 Grammys

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Taking the stage for his first-ever Grammys performance tonight was Steve Lacy. During his performance, he sang his Billboard Hot 100 No. 1, “Bad Habit.”

On stage, Lacy was joined by Thundercat, who supplemented the poignant love song with a seductive, groovy guitar bridge.

Throughout the performance, several of Lacy’s fellow musicians were seen singing and dancing along to the song, including Machine Gun Kelly, Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, and the queen herself, Beyoncé.

While this may be his first time performing at The Grammys, Lacy is certainly no novice. Last week, Lacy spoke with CBS Mornings about receiving his first Grammy nomination when he was 17 years old, for his work on The Internet’s Ego Death album.

When asked what the nomination meant to him at the time, Lacy replied “It meant that my mom could get off my ass about going to college.”

Fortunately, this nomination was no flash in the pan for Lacy. In 2020, he was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album for his solo debut album, Apollo XXI.

Earlier in the night, Lacy won the Best Progressive R&B Album Grammy for his 2022 album, Gemini Rights. “Bad Habit” is also up for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance.

In the meantime, you can check out the performance of “Bad Habit” above.

Jazz Singer Samara Joy Picked Up The Best New Artist Grammy Award For 2023

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The 2023 Grammy Awards are happening now, and the winner of Best New Artist was just revealed. Anitta, Domi & JD Beck, Latto, Måneskin, Molly Tuttle, Muni Long, Omar Apollo, Samara Joy, Tobe Nwigwe, and Wet Leg were nominated for the award, but it was Joy who came away with the win.

Joy had two nominations this year and won them both: Before Best New Artist, her album Linger Awhile won Best Jazz Vocal Album.

While Joy ended up winning, all of the nominees had strong cases. Joy already has a Best New Artist award under her belt, as Jazz Times gave her that honor in 2021. Anitta’s “Envolver” was a global hit that was the first song by a Brazilian artist to rank No. 1 on the daily Spotify Global Chart. Domi & JD Beck signed to Anderson .Paak’s label Apesh*t Inc. and quickly announced Not Tight, a debut album that featured .Paak, Thundercat, Mac DeMarco, Herbie Hancock, Snoop Dogg, and others. Latto had a major hit with “Big Energy” in 2021 and has only upped her clout since then.

Måneskin got a Eurovision Song Contest 2021 victory and rode the momentum to international stardom. Molly Tuttle released Crooked Tree, her first album on Nonesuch, and it earned a Best Bluegrass Album nomination at this year’s Grammys. Omar Apollo had a TikTok hit with “Evergreen,” from the well-received debut album Ivory. Tobe Nwigwe has been consistently productive in recent years and found himself performing on The Tonight Show earlier this year. Finally, we have Wet Leg, “Chaise Longue” is one of the most beloved rock songs in recent years, and it’s found a fan in Dave Grohl.

Find the full list of this year’s Grammy nominees and winners here.

Fans Frustrated By Exclusion Of Gangsta Boo, Lil Keed & More From Grammys’ “In Memoriam”

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Fans on social media voiced their frustration in response to The Recording Academy’s selections for the Grammys‘ “In Memoriam” tribute on Sunday night. Popular artists the Grammys left out included Gangsta Boo, Lil Keed, as well as Aaron Carter, and more.

Gangsta Boo died at the age of 43, in early January. Authorities did not reveal a cause of death at first. However, TMZ reports that she was partying with her brother the previous night. It was then, she reportedly overdosed after taking cocaine laced with fentanyl.

“Leaving out Gangsta Boo, one of the pioneers of Southern female rap, from the GRAMMY memoriam segment is a sin and a shame,” one fan online argued. Another further wrote: “Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop tonight and forgetting to include Gangsta Boo in the memorial video is disrespectful af.”

ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 19: Trackstar The DJ, Gangsta Boo, and El-P perform with Run The Jewels at Music Midtown at Piedmont Park on September 19, 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Chris McKay/Getty Images for Live Nation)

They had been referencing the star-studded performance put on in honor of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. During the tribute, over 30 of the biggest names in hip-hop took the stage to perform songs from throughout the genre’s history. Among the most notable names were Big Boi, Busta Rhymes, Lil Baby, Run-DMC, as well as Salt-N-Pepa, and many more. LL Cool J hosted the performance while Questlove directed and co-produced it.

Other artists to be left off included Aaron Carter. The late pop star died at age 34 in November 2022. “Since the #GRAMMYs FORGOT them in the in memoriam, just another Rest in Peace to Taylor Hawkins & Aaron Carter,” one fan tweeted. In addition to Carter, there was also no mention of Lil Keed, who died at 24 years old in May 2022 of eosinophilia.

As for artists who were honored during the night, Quavo paid special tribute to his late Migos partner Takeoff. He performed his track, “Without You,” while backed by a gospel choir. Check out responses to the Grammys’ “In Memoriam” tribute on Twitter below.

[Via]

LL Cool J Hosts Star-Studded Hip-Hop Tribute At Grammys

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The 2023 Grammy Awards honored the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with a massive tribute on Sunday night. Over 30 of the most iconic artists from the genre took the stage to perform hits from throughout hip-hop history. LL Cool J served as a host for the tribute while Questlove directed and co-produced it.

Other artists to appear on stage included Big Boi, Busta Rhymes with Spliff Star, De La Soul, DJ Drama, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Future, GloRilla, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Mele Mel and Scorpio/Ethiopian King, Ice-T, Lil Baby, The Lox, Method Man, Missy Elliott, Nelly, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Questlove, Rahiem, Rakim, The Roots, Run-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa and DJ Spinderella, Scarface, Swizz Beatz, and Too $hort.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 05: Performers such as LL Cool J, Flavor Flav, Busta Rhymes, Lil Uzi Vert, Nelly, Spliff Star, Queen Latifah, Ice-T, Chuck D, Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, Grandmaster Flash, and Black Thought perform onstage during the 65th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

As for which songs the group performed, they went with “The Message,” “The King Of Rock,” “Radio,” “Rock The Bells,” “My Mic Sounds Nice,” “My Melody,” “BUDDY,” “Mind Playing Tricks On Me,” “UNITY,” “ATLiens,” “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Where My Eyes Could See,” “Outta Control,” as well as “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” and several more.

“For five decades, hip-hop has not only been a defining force in music, but a major influence on our culture,” Harvey Mason Jr., the CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement. “Its contributions to art, fashion, sport, politics, and society cannot be overstated. I’m so proud that we are honoring it in such a spectacular way on the Grammy stage. It is just the beginning of our yearlong celebration of this essential genre of music.”

Additionally, the rest of the night featured numerous other artists performing outside of the hip-hop tribute as well. Bad Bunny, DJ Khaled, Harry Styles, Jay-Z, John Legend, Kim Petras, Lil Wayne, Lizzo, and many more also made appearances. When it came to awards, Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, and more were some of the night’s biggest winners.

[Via]

Here Are All The Songs From The Grammy’s Hip-Hop 50th-Anniversary Performance

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With hip-hop’s official 50th birthday just months away, the 2023 Grammy Awards helped kick off the year-long festivities with the maximalist tribute performance encompassing (most of) the past 50 years of rap music.

Introduced by LL Cool J, curated by Questlove, and narrated by Black Thought, the performance started with foundational favorites like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message” and zoomed through the ’80s, ’90s, and (some of) the 2000s. Along the way, a slew of hip-hop titans put in appearances, including De La Soul, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Ice-T, Method Man, Missy Elliott, Nelly, Run-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, Too $hort, and more.

The performance was one of three hip-hop-focused performances for the night. The others were DJ Khaled and Jay-Z performing “God Did” and Quavo performing “Without You” in tribute to Takeoff during the In Memoriam segment.

You can see the full list of songs from the 50 Years Of Hip-Hop performance below.

Grandmaster Flash with Barshon, [Rahiem]], Melle Mel and Scorpio/Ethiopian King — “Flash to the Beat” & “The Message”
Run-DMC — “King of Rock”
LL Cool J — “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” & “Rock the Bells”
Rakim — “My Mic Sounds Nice” & “Eric B. Is President”
Chuck D and Flavor Flav — “Rebel Without a Pause”
De La Soul — “Buddy”

List of performers at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards
Artist(s) Song(s)
Bad Bunny “El Apagón”
“Después de la Playa”[14]
Brandi Carlile “Broken Horses”[14]
Stevie Wonder
WanMor
Smokey Robinson
Chris Stapleton Tribute to Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson
“The Way You Do the Things You Do”
“The Tears of a Clown”
“Higher Ground”[14]
Lizzo “About Damn Time”
“Special”[14]
Harry Styles “As It Was”[14]
Kacey Musgraves
Quavo
Maverick City Music
Sheryl Crow
Mick Fleetwood
Bonnie Raitt In Memoriam
“Coal Miner’s Daughter”
(tribute to Loretta Lynn)
“Without You”
“See You Again”
(tribute to Takeoff)
“Songbird”
(tribute to Christine McVie)[14]
Sam Smith and Kim Petras “Unholy”[14]
Mary J. Blige “Good Morning Gorgeous”[14]
The Roots
Black Thought
Grandmaster Flash with Barshon, [Rahiem]], Melle Mel and Scorpio/Ethiopian King
Run-DMC
LL Cool J
DJ Jazzy Jeff
Salt-N-Pepa
Rakim
Chuck D and Flavor Flav
De La Soul
Scarface — “Mind Playing Tricks on Me”
Ice-T — “New Jack Hustler (Nino’s Theme)”
Queen Latifah — “U.N.I.T.Y.”
Method Man — “Method Man”
Big Boi — “ATLiens”
Busta Rhymes and Spliff Star — “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” & “Look at Me Now”
Missy Elliott — “Lose Control”
Nelly and City Spud — “Hot in Herre”
Too $hort — “Blow the Whistle”
Swizz Beatz and The Lox — “We Gonna Make It”
Lil Baby — “Freestyle”
GloRilla — “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)”
Lil Uzi Vert — “Just Wanna Rock”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.