GRAMMYS

Fans Are Frustrated That Drakeo The Ruler Was Omitted From The Grammys’ In Memoriam Segment

by
Drakeo The Ruler Grammys In Memoriam
Getty Image

Although the 64th annual Grammy Awards were better than usual, some hip-hop fans still have a bone to pick with the Recording Academy over one segment in particular. During the Grammys’ in memoriam segment Sunday, fans were distraught to learn that LA rapper Drakeo The Ruler, who died in December of 2021 after being attacked at the Once Upon A Time In LA festival, had been left off the reels of those musical figures who were remembered for their contributions.

The exclusion rubbed salt into a still stinging wound for many rap fans, especially those who knew Drakeo in life. Journalist Jeff Weiss, who had championed Drakeo extensively and covered the rapper’s stint in a Los Angeles County jail awaiting retrial for various gang-related crimes for over a year, had this to say about the Grammy Awards on Twitter: “Drakeo didn’t make the Grammys memoriam tribute, another reminder why they’re worthless.”

Another writer addressed the omission by posting Drakeo’s video for “Pippy Long Stockin” and writing, “The Grammys slept on him but we know the truth.”

The insult was added to the injury of the Grammys moving the Best Rap Album award off of the program, harkening back to the show’s earlier attitude toward rap and the 1989 boycott against the show for its decision not to televise its first-ever hip-hop awards. Drakeo wasn’t even the only California rapper left off the in memoriam segment; Bay Area rapper Gift Of Gab, who formed one-half of seminal rap duo Blackalicious, was also omitted from the rolls.

The Grammys have come a long way since 1989, but it seems they have further still to go.

A Song From A 26-Year-Old ‘Kirby’ Game Is Now The First Nintendo Track To Ever Win A Grammy

by
Kirby And The Forgotten Land
Nintendo

Every year, there are always at least a couple Grammy nominations that stick out. This year, one of those was in the Best Arrangement, Instrumental Or A Cappella category: Nominated was an arrangement of “Meta Knight’s Revenge,” a song from the 1996 Super Nintendo game Kirby Super Star, as arranged by Charlie Rosen and Jake Silverman and performed by The 8-Bit Big Band featuring Button Masher (Silverman’s performing name).

Video game songs aren’t nominated that often so what happened last night was big: “Meta Knight’s Revenge” (which appears on The 8-Bit Big Band’s 2021 album Backwards Compatible) actually won the award.

This is a huge moment in Nintendo history and in video game history more broadly; Eurogamer notes this is only the second time a song originally from a video game has taken home a Grammy, following Christopher Tin’s 2010 win for Best Instrumental Arrangement With Vocalist(s), for a song composed for Civilization 4. Previously, Journey composer Austin Wintory got a nomination in the Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media category in 2013 but didn’t win.

So, that means this Kirby win is the first time a song from a Nintendo game has ever won a Grammy. This news arrives with especially good timing, as it quickly follows the March 25 release of the latest Kirby game, Kirby And The Forgotten Land for Nintendo Switch.

Rosen shared an excited reaction on the social media pages for The 8-Bit Big Band, posting a photo of himself and Silverman with their trophies and writing, “HOLY SH*T WE WON THE GRAMMY!!LONG LIVE VIDEO GAME MUSIC!! Thank you to everybody who’s ever listened to [The 8-Bit Big Band], the 100s of artists who have contributed their time/talent/musicianship, and of course HUGE thanks to my co-arranger on Meta Knights Revenge the one and only [Jake Silverman] !! MUCH LOVE, [Charlie Rosen].”

Rosen also posted this pretty terrific Kirby graphic a few days ago:

Watch The 8-Bit Big Band and Button Masher perform “Meta Knight’s Revenge” above. Also check out where Kirby Super Star (and another SNES Kirby game) ranks on our list of the 100 best Super Nintendo games (according to over 200,000 players) here.

Our Top 10 Best Celebrity Red Carpet Looks At The 2022 Grammy’s

by
Grammys Group

After being postponed in January, due to the Corona Virus, this year’s Grammy Awards was star-studded,  Artists from MeganThee Stallion, H.E.R., and Fivio Foreign showed up and showed out.  After the aftermath of the Oscars, I think we are all relieved to say the  Grammys were a breath of fresh air.  Our favorite celebs posed outside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas serving their Fiercest looks.  Scroll to see our favorite show-stopping glitz, glamour, suits, and gowns from the 2022 Grammy’s Red Carpet

Saweetie 

Saweetie wearing custom Oscar de la Renta

2. Chloe Bailey 

Choe Bailey in Valentino 

3. Megan Thee Stallion

Megan Thee Stallion in Roberto Cavali

5. H.E.R

H.E.R wearing Dundas 

6. Sza

SZA in Jean Paul Gaultier

7. Snoh Alegra

Snoh Aalegra wearing Versace

8. Dreezy

Dreezy Wearing Mugler

9. Fivio Foreign

10. Nas & Destiny

The post Our Top 10 Best Celebrity Red Carpet Looks At The 2022 Grammy’s appeared first on The Source.

Olivia Rodrigo Already Broke One Of The Three Grammy Statues She Won At The 2022 Awards

by
Olivia Rodrigo 64th Annual Grammy Awards 2022 getty
Getty Image

Olivia Rodrigo didn’t break any Grammy records at last night’s awards show (at least none that I’m aware of), but she did literally break a Grammy. A red-carpet photo from after the ceremony shows the aftermath of Rodrigo apparently dropping one of her three Grammy trophies, which was left worse for wear after the impact it sustained.

The photo at the top of this post shows Rodrigo’s reaction to dropping and breaking the Grammy, which is one of pure shock as her mouth is agape and her eyes are full of astonishment. For formatting purposes, we had to crop the image, so you can’t see the broken trophy in shambles. So, here’s the original photo, which shows the trophy on the floor, the gramophone horn snapped off from the rest of the statue:

Olivia Rodrigo 64th Annual Grammy Awards 2022 getty
Getty Image

Ultimately, it’s probably no big deal, as this is something the Recording Academy has likely dealt with before and they’ll presumably get a replacement trophy for Rodrigo. This could also actually be a bit of a humblebrag for Rodrigo: She had so many Grammys that she had a hard time holding them all.

What is a big deal, though, is that she won three Grammys in the first place. She had seven nominations and ended up winning a trio of awards: Best New Artist, Best Pop Solo Performance (for “Drivers License”), and Best Pop Vocal Album (for Sour).

Find the full list of 2022 Grammy winners and nominees here.

Tyler, the Creator Wins Best Rap Album for ‘Call Me If You Get Lost’ at the 2022 Grammys

by
FPdEVAFVkAYzJOD

“Rolls Royce pull up, Black boy hop out…”

Tyler, the Creator has won his second Best Rap Album Grammy for his Call Me If You Get Lost album. In 2020, Tyler got a W for his IGOR album. Tyler was not on hand at the Grammys but released a brief statement of “thanks wow yeah” on Twitter.

Tyler would follow up with another tweet, “Thanks to everyone who listened, watched a video or came to a show.”

Call Me If You Get Lost features Lil Wayne, 42 Dugg, Ty Dolla $ign, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Brent Faiyaz, Domo Genesis, Lil Uzi Vert, Pharrell, and more. The album is hosted by DJ Drama.

You can hear the album below.

The post Tyler, the Creator Wins Best Rap Album for ‘Call Me If You Get Lost’ at the 2022 Grammys appeared first on The Source.

Silk Sonic’s ‘Leave The Door Open’ Wins The 2022 Grammy Award For Record Of The Year: ‘We Gettin Drunk!’

by
Silk Sonic record of the year top
Getty Image

Just as H.E.R. and Lenny Kravitz cleared the Grammys stage following an electrifying performance, Keith Urban grabbed the mic to announce the winner of the biggest yearly prize awarded to a single song. And yes, this is when we have to explain each year, that Record Of The Year awards the recording of the song (artists, producers, engineers), whereas Song Of The Year is about the song’s composition (songwriters). After Childish Gambino took home the prize in 2019 for “This Is America,” Billie Eilish won the award the past two years for “Everything I Wanted” and “Bad Guy.” But it wasn’t a three-peat for Eilish tonight.

Silk Sonic’s “Leave The Door Open” took home the 2022 award for Record Of The Year and the duo of Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars were over the moon. “We’re really trying our hardest to remain humble at this point. But in the industry, we call that a clean sweep!” .Paak told the audience, after the duo won Song Of The Year AND Record Of The Year, as well as the Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song Awards. “Drinks is on Silk Sonic tonight! We gettin drunk!” .Paak added. Silk Sonic also performed “777” earlier in the evening for the opening performance of the Grammy Awards show.

The Record Of The Year nominees included ABBA for “I Still Have Faith In You,” Jon Batiste for “Freedom,” Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga for “I Get A Kick Out Of You, ” Justin Bieber for “Peaches” featuring Daniel Caesar and Giveon, Brandi Carlile for “Right On Time,” Doja Cat for “Kiss Me More” featuring SZA, Billie Eilish for “Happier Than Ever,” Lil Nas X for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” and Olivia Rodrigo for “Drivers License.”

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

Jon Batiste Pulls Off A Major Upset As ‘We Are’ Is Crowned Album Of The Year At The 2022 Grammys

by
Jon Batiste 64th Annual Grammy Awards 2022
Getty Image

Winning any Grammy Award is a big deal, but there’s something extra special about picking up an honor in one of the four major categories. Now, one of this year’s big winners has been revealed and it was perhaps the biggest surprise of the night: Taking home the Grammy for Album Of The Year is Jon Batiste’s We Are.

That show-ending win capped off an amazing night for the Late Show bandleader, who came into the evening with a whopping 11 eleven nominations, which was one shy of the all-time record for a single year. He picked up four wins before the proper televised ceremony even started, and when it came time for the show, he pretty much dominated the evening. He gave a vibrant and energetic performance of “Freedom,” which ended up being one of the musical highlights of the show.

The category was crowded this year, as also nominated for the award were Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s Love For Sale, Justin Bieber’s Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe), Doja Cat’s Planet Her (Deluxe), Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, HER’s Back Of My Mind, Lil Nas X’s Montero, Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour, Taylor Swift’s Evermore, and Kanye West’s Donda.

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

HER Absolutely Ripped A Rocking Medley In Her Star-Studded 2022 Grammys Performance With Lenny Kravitz

by
h.e.r. lenny kravitz grammys
Getty Image

HER, the multitalented R&B revivalist, has become a fixture at the Grammys over the past few years. In 2019, she played her song “Hard Place,” and then in 2020, she performed “Sometimes.” While she took 2021 off from performing, she still made an appearance to pick up her golden gramophone for “I Can’t Breathe.”

This year she returned to perform once again (as well as possibly also taking home more hardware), and with so much Grammys experience under her belt, just one song wouldn’t be enough. Her performance turned out to be a medley featuring “Damage,” “We Made It” and a cover of Lenny Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way” (a song she’s been playing on tour since last year). She was joined onstage by a who’s-who of heavy hitters that included Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Travis Barker, and Kravitz himself. Her elegant, stripped-down set saw her change wardrobe, take to her drum set, and of course, play a wailing solo on her guitar with Lenny accompanying her and Travis tripping out on drums.

This year, HER tied with Doja Cat and Justin Bieber for second-most Grammy nominations with eight apiece after Jon Batiste with 11. The 24-year-old singer is nominated for Album Of The Year for her debut album Back Of My Mind, Song Of The Year for her song “Fight For You” from the Judas And The Black Messiah soundtrack, Best R&B Performance for her Back Of My Mind single “Damage,” Best R&B Song for “Damage,” Best R&B Album, Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for “Hold Us Together” (Hope Mix) with Tauren Wells, and Best Song Written For Visual Media for “Fight For You.”

Last year, the formerly mysterious Bay Area singer secured Song Of The Year for her protest anthem “I Can’t Breathe,” as well as Best R&B Song alongside Robert Glasper for her appearance on “Better Than I Imagine” with Meshell Ndegeocello. The wins prompted her to proclaim her intention to eventually be an EGOT winner (winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award). With her win at last year’s Oscars for “Fight For You,” she’s halfway there, and at just 24 years old, she’s still got plenty of time — and the talent — to grab the rest.

Watch HER’s 2022 Grammys performance above.