61st Grammys review/recap

Last weekend were the 61st Annual Grammy Awards show. There was a wide range of performers differencing in genre. The show started out with Camila Cabello singing one of her most popular songs “Havana.” For Cabello being so young and being the opening act at the Grammys was a perfect fit. I love how she incorporated Hispanic culture. In previous years of the Grammys they have lacked in making it a diverse show. Her incorporation of singing in Spanish and salsa dancing made the performance pop out. To top everything off, Ricky Martin a Puerto Rican singer, J Balvin a Columbian singer and Arturo Sandoval an American Cuban jazz trumpeteer, joined Cabello on stage. Seeing all these Hispanic artists being brought together by music, and sharing the stage at the Grammys was a perfect way to start the show off.

To highlight a few more performances, Shawn Mendes and Miley Cyrus collab singing Mendes song “In My Blood.” This collaboration really caught my eye. Mendaz started out on a platform for the beginning of the song playing piano. Then went to the main stage joining Cyrus. The performance was simple, well done, and entertaining. It was nice to see Cyrus in a different setting. They’re voices together were fabulous. I was really impressed.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been around for about 35 years, who knew they would be sharing the stage with rapper, Post Malone. Right off the bat I knew it’d be an interesting performance. Personally, I didn’t like it. Malone started out with his song “Stay” on acoustic then transitioned to a censored version of “Rockstar.” It was cool to see him start out on acoustic, his performance of Rockstar was also cool. The smoke and light affects were fun to see. I just don’t like how it was a censored version of the song because that’s not who Malone is. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were interesting. They sang “Dark Necessities.” There’s not much to say about them because they’re an OG band, and I respect their music, despite I don’t listen to them all the time. To me there performance didn’t seem like a collab. They either focused on Malone or the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Never really combined them both.

One last performance to talk about is the tribute to country singer Dolly Parton. Kacey Musgraves, Miley Cyrus, Maren Morris, Little Big Town and Katy Perry joined Parton on stage to sing a few of her songs. They sang songs from “Jolene” to “9 to 5.” The performance was stunning. It was cool to see all these country artist, with the exception of Perry, being brought together on stage. It was a little confusing to see Perry on stage because she doesn’t have a country background but still nice to see her there. During the performance everyone had a smile on there face, they were definitely enjoying themselves. I mean who wouldn’t love to sing with a legend like Parton.

Looking back to see who won some awards. Multiple artists popped up in multiple awards. It’s not a bad thing but it doesn’t give other artists a chance to be nominated or even win an award. People like Cardi B, Kacey Musgraves, and H.E.R were nominated for multiple awards in different categories, but they’re artists who haven’t really been recognized in previous years. Onto a few categories and winners.

For song of the year the winner was “This is America” by Childish Gambino. It’s not a bad song. I had never heard of this guy prior to watching the Grammys. Should he have win? Well let’s just say that Drakes song “God’s Plan” there was a huge hype over. He did some amazing things in the music video. I’m not terribly disappointed he didn’t win.

Cardi B won best rap album for “Invasion,” I was really happy with this win. She is the first female rapper to win this category which is impressive. There was some shade being thrown at her because Nicki Minaj never won this category and she’s been around longer. Cardi is newer, has a different background, and her music is catchy. She was up against some good rappers like travis Scott and Mac Miller. I thought Miller would win because when people pass away their music usually bumps up in listens. Overall Cardi did deserve that award.

Kacey Musgraves took home the award for album of the year. Her album “Golden Hour” is amazing. She performed “Rainbow” which is off the album. This was her first year winning a Grammy. Actually, she walked away with four Grammys. The other three are for best country album, best country song and best country solo performance. Without a doubt Musgraves really deserved this award and all the other ones.

Drake’s song “God’s Plan” won best rap song. Compared to the other nominees, Drake definitely deserved the awards. During his acceptance speech Drake said,”But my point is you’ve already won if you have people singing your songs word for word, if you’re a hero in your hometown. Look, if there’s people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain, in the snow, spending their hard earned money to buy tickets to come to your shows, you don’t need this right here. I promise you, you already won.” I love what he said because it’s relatable. He actually got cut off during his speech which was bogus because he didn’t say anything bad.

Best rock song, St. Vincent took the win for “Masseduction.” The song isn’t too bad. Twenty One Pilots was up for the award. I wanted them to win but realistically I think Bring Me The Horizon should’ve won. They’re song “Mantra” is amazing. It was really well done. It’s a bit disappointing that they didn’t win.

Overall the 61st Annual Grammy Awards was everything but disappointing. They had some amazing collaborations and amazing performances. They had a great host, Alicia Keys, who kept the show going. I was happy with most of the winners. Can’t wait to see what next years Grammy’s have in store.