GRAMMYS

Jack Harlow’s Grammy Performance Made Up For Him Not Dancing In Lil Nas X’s ‘Industry Baby’ Video

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Jack Harlow Lil Nas X 2022 Grammys
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Aside from the chaos that the “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” video caused, another big moment for Lil Nas X as he prepared for his Montero debut album came with the release of “Industry Baby.” He released the song with Jack Harlow and the song became his third chart-topping song after “Old Town Road” and “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” Lil Nas’ collaboration with Harlow also came with a great music video that showed off some of Lil Nas’ dance moves during multiple scenes at the fictional Montero County Jail.

However, some people hoped to see Harlow show off some of his own moves in that video. After hearing from a good amount of disappointed fans, Harlow took to Twitter to clear the air. “Nas wrote the whole treatment for this video and I followed his lead every step of the way,” he wrote. ” If he had asked me to be in that shower scene I woulda been in that shower scene. I just let the mastermind cook. Honored to be apart of it.” Lil Nas himself jokingly chimed in and tweeted, “To the lgbtq+ community i sincerely apologize. i have failed you. i am embarrassed. i am ashamed. and i will learn from my mistakes.”

Well, it seems like Lil Nas did learn from his “mistakes” as he made sure to include Harlow in some portions of his dance routine during their 2022 Grammy performance of “Industry Baby.” Harlow leaned and swayed with Lil Nas and his backup dancers as he started performing his guest verse, and by the time he was done, Harlow got into the full swing of the routine before walking off the stage.

You can watch Lil Nas and Harlow’s performance of “Industry Baby” above and move up to 3:26 to see Harlow’s entrance.

Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Cardi B Once Again Deletes Her Twitter Account After Taking Fan Abuse For Skipping The Grammys

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Cardi B has deactivated her Twitter account again after some fans got a little too rambunctious in her mentions over skipping the Grammys. According to Rolling Stone, Cardi addressed the abuse before deleting her account. “I’m deleting my Twitter but on god I hate this f*ckin dumbass fan base,” she wrote. “You got the slow dumbasses dragging my kids all cause y’all [thought] I was going to the grammys and I didnt the f*ck ? When the f*ck I hinted I was going ? just f*vkin stupid I can’t I needs to protect myself.”

Rolling Stone listed some of the replies that made Cardi take her latest break. “I bet yo son wouldnt like for you to be on your ass while teasing us fans and not ever dropping music,” one read. When Cardi responded (and maybe overreacted) “I hope your moms die,” another person taunted, “do you kiss your @utistic child with that mouth?”

Cardi most recently disabled her account in the spring of 2021, which some speculated was for her to have time to finish her upcoming sophomore album. While that album still has yet to materialize, she has since had a second child, and her health and family should absolutely take priority over her work. Before that, she deleted the account when fans harassed her husband Offset in 2020. Cardi has spoken about the dark side of social media in the past, so it’s possible she could return but it certainly makes sense why she would want to take a break from it once in a while.

John Legend’s Moving Ukraine Tribute Performance Of ‘Free’ Was Introduced By Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

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John Legend is a veteran at the Grammy awards. He’s taken home 12 awards and he’s been nominated on 33 occasions throughout his career. This year, Legend wasn’t nominated in any categories, but it hasn’t been too long since he was nominated at the show. In 2020 and 2021, he won in the Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best R&B Album categories respectively, and in 2019, he was nominated in the Best Musical Theater Album category. While Legend won’t leave with a trophy this year, he did make an appearance at this year’s Grammys, and with it came a Ukrainian tribute performance of his new song “Free.”

The track is one that Legend just released today, and it sees him pleading for freedom and an unrestricted life backed by the soft presence of the piano, stirring strings, and a powerful choir. His performance was introduced by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the current president of Ukraine, who gave a speech about the country’s ongoing war with Russia. Legend was also accompanied by Ukrainian singer Mika Newtown and Ukrainian poet Lyuba Yakimchuk for the performance.

Prior to his appearance at the Grammys, Legend became the latest artist to sell their music catalog. According to Bloomberg, Legend sold his copyrights and rights to royalties of his catalog to KKR & Co. and BMG, with each company getting a 50-percent stake. It was not revealed how much Legend made from the deal.

You can watch the Legend’s performance of “Free” and listen to Zelenskyy’s speech in the videos above.

Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow Perform ‘Industry Baby’ at Grammys

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With a couple Grammys already on him, Lil Nas X went into Sunday’s Grammys with four nominations.

The 22-year-old rapper also hit the stage at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to perform an exhilarating medley of hits off his debut album Montero. Wearing a glittery black cloak, he opened his set with “Dead Right Now” before changing into a midriff-baring outfit for his No. 1 hit “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).”

As tweets and soundbites from his critics appeared on screen, Nas and his male dancers commanded the stage while performing choreographed moves in front of a broken statue of Nas’ head.

After another outfit change—this time a Michael Jackson-inspired jacket—he brought down the house with a rousing performance of “Industry Baby” with Jack Harlow.

Despite not winning any Grammys during the pre-telecast, Nas was still a winner on the red carpet, turning heads in a custom Balmain look.

During the pre-show, Harlow defended his collaborator against his detractors. “He’s trailblazing a track that’s sad it has to be trailblazed. I think it’s amazing,” he told E! News. “He’s innovating the game and it’s fresh, it’s powerful, and it’s necessary, so I love it.”

Nas’ First-Ever Solo Grammys Performance Included ‘I Can,’ ‘One Mic,’ ‘Made You Look’ And ‘Rare’

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It may sound hard to believe, but Nas has never performed solo at the Grammys, despite being something of a fixture in its Best Rap Album category. Of course, he only recently won that award for the Hit-Boy joint album King’s Disease, so maybe the Grammys overlooking the rap elder statesman could also be considered a tradition — until now. Thanks to the Grammys’ ongoing initiative to actually honor hip-hop, Nas has now broken both streaks. He made up for the last 20 years in his 2022 Grammy performance, playing a medley of his hits including “I Can,” “One Mic,” “Made You Look,” and new song “Rare,” further cementing Nas’ status as the Grammys’ new golden child — even if he is closer to 50 now.

In the past few years, Nas and Hit-Boy have proven to be a winning team. In 2021, they won the Best Rap Album Grammy for their first collaborative project, King’s Disease — Nas’ first-ever win in the category in his 30-year career. Their follow-up, King’s Disease II, is also nominated for Best Rap Album this year. Finally, in December of 2021, the duo collaborated once again to make Magic — no pun intended — their third joint album to date. They have both stated that they plan to release a third installment of the King’s Disease series, as well. Given how things have been going on that front, don’t be surprised if that one gets nominated for a Best Rap Album Grammy too.

Watch Nas’ 2022 Grammys performance of “I Can,” “One Mic,” “Made You Look,” and “Rare” above.

Olivia Rodrigo Lands The 2022 Grammy Award For Best New Artist

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Each year, there’s a new round of artists who make an impact, big or small, on the music industry. In that group, a select few are chosen to be recognized in the Best New Artist category at the Grammys every year. Winners in this category over the last few years have come from an array of genres. In 2017, Chance The Rapper took the award while pop singer Alessia Cara did so the following year. The award was given to Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish in 2019 and 2020 respectively, and last year, Megan Thee Stallion was graced with the Best New Artist award.

This year, that honor has been given to Olivia Rodrigo. Fresh off her awesome performance of “Drivers License,” she was selected over the other Best New Artist nominees which were Arooj Aftab, Jimmie Allen, Baby Keem, Finneas, Glass Animals, Japanese Breakfast, The Kid Laroi, Arlo Parks, and Saweetie.

Over the past twelve months, many of the artists in this year’s Best New Artist category had highlight moments that certainly helped to boost their careers. Arlo Parks’ Collapsed In Sunbeams, which is also nominated for Best Alternative Music Album, won the Mercury Prize, which is awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. Olivia Rodrigo scored her first No. 1 album with Sour after tearing up the singles chart with “Drivers License.” The Kid Laroi also delivered a chart-topping album and single with F*ck Love and “Stay” with Justin Bieber. Lastly, Japanese Breakfast won the 2021 Uproxx Critics Poll thanks to their third album Jubilee, which is also nominated in this year’s Best Alternative Music Album category.

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

Anderson .Paak Narrowly Avoided A Wardrobe Malfunction As Silk Sonic Accepted Their Grammy Award

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30 minutes into the 2022 Grammy Awards, nothing so show-stopping as Will Smith’s slap has afflicted the show as yet — but Silk Sonic nearly became the talk of the show for all the wrong reasons as they accepted their award for Song Of The Year for “Leave The Door Open.” For a quick moment during their acceptance speech — which was mostly handled by producer/songwriter Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II, who dedicated the award to his recently deceased mother — the microphone cut off as Anderson .Paak turned his back on the cameras.

As it turns out, he had a decent enough reason for swearing on live TV: The fly on his 1970’s-inspired bellbottom pants was down, almost giving the world a glimpse of what .Paak is packing. Fortunately, he was able to keep everything aside from the curse words contained, keeping the Grammys from accumulating the number of FCC complaints that the Oscars got.

Anderson and his musical partner Bruno Mars got to celebrate winning Song Of The Year just minutes after performing their casino-themed cut “777” — appropriate, as the Grammys were held in Vegas this year. Incidentally, they performed the Song Of The Year for the first time at last year’s awards after mounting a campaign to lobby the show for the opportunity to play. They’re still nominated for Record Of The Year, Best R&B Performance, and Best R&B Song.

Lil Nas X Taunts His Critics Performing ‘Montero’ And ‘Industry Baby’ With Jack Harlow At The 2022 Grammys

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Lil Nas X’s hit song “Industry Baby” has clearly become an industry favorite; he and guest rapper Jack Harlow graced the stage at the Grammys to once again perform their No. 1 hit as part of a stirring medley of tracks including “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and “Dead Right Now.” They previously shook up the world with their colorful rendition of “Industry Baby” at the 2021 VMAs. Nas changed costumes numerous times as news clips of pearl-clutching newscasters played behind him.

Nas and Jack’s juggernaut collaboration is nominated for Best Melodic Rap Performance, while Nas himself has also accumulated an impressive collection of nominations for his debut album Montero. Not only is Montero nominated for Album Of The Year, but the project’s lead single “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” is also nominated for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best Music Video.

That last nomination must certainly rankle Nas’ detractors, who immediately decried the video for its controversial concept. In the video, Nas descends to a plane resembling classic depictions of hell and gives a demonic ruler a lap dance before committing regicide and ascending the throne himself. However, those criticisms couldn’t stop “Call Me By Your Name” from becoming Nas’ second No. 1 record, receiving a Platinum RIAA certification just one month after its release, or receiving three Grammy nominations. Meanwhile, its follow-up, “Industry Baby,” achieved similar success, reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100 two months after its release and receiving the Best Melodic Rap Performance nomination.

Watch Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow’s 2022 Grammys performance of TK above.