Both Eminem and Jay-Z took home trophies at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards this year. Eminem won Best Rap Solo Performance for “Not Afraid,” while Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz won Best Rap Group Performance for “On To The Next One.” A consolidation of both awards into one category of Best Rap Performance ensures that won’t happen again. The merging of the Best Rap Performance award was one of over 30 changes enacted by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences on Wednesday.
R&B and a handful of international genres will see the most change, as the amount of R&B awards were cut in half. The Academy eliminated many of the gender distinctions in the R&B categories, opting to award the best album, song, R&B performance and traditional R&B performance instead of separating those four categories by male and female.
The Grammy Awards came under fire this year, after music executive turned advertising expert, Steve Stoute took out a full page ad in the New York Times denouncing the selection process. The new process holds record executives more accountable and includes a provision to phase out consistently unsupported categories. Academy President Neil Portnow said the changes were the result of a two-year review of the awards process. In March, Stoute and Portnow agreed to work together to increase diversity in the selection process. Stoute told the Times the current overhaul was “a step in the right direction, but still a Band-Aid on the problem.”
The awards never go to the right people anyway, the grammys are a joke. Best hip hop album of 2010 Recovery? Pathetic, it wouldn’t even come in my top ten of the year but it sold the most therefore it must be the best eh?
I know right? All an artist has got to hope for is being promoted till everybody in the country if DEAF from hearing your music too much. After all the platinum sales and all the rediculous bandwagon following, you might have 90% chance of winning the Best Rap Album (as long as Eminem doesn’t release an album of his own the same year).
You’re not lying. If Em drops its a wrap. I think, and more than that, I KNOW he is a spectacular artist but I think his white rapper card gets him a little more credit than deserved. He is really really dope, but he gets a little too much more credit I think. If I was wrong, then if you swap some of his songs with other artist like say you give “Love The Way You lie” to 50 Cent and exchange that for 50’s “Get Up” (which I thought was a dope song other than the video) Well love the way you lie just became a soft, “I can’t believe 50 did this song” and “Get Up” is the Sports anthem of the year and you never hear the end of it. Hope people see im not hating but am i right or wrong?
I love Eminem, but i agree that Grammys are shit. The critics that give the awards never listen to the right albums, there are so many albums that definitly desereved the title of best hip hop album and are not even nominated. I think the grammys are all about money.
record sales must count for something too.
I don’t think record sales should count for shit because you have great artists and albums that get almost no promotion or push from their label, so how are they gonna get the sales they deserve? And that goes for ANY category of music.
But let’s use Apathy’s “Wanna Snuggle” as an example. To me, that was one of the best albums of 2009 / 2010… I can still play that all the way thru (except for one song)..
Or how about the Roots’ “How I got over”? That album was astonishing.. honestly astonishing… And they are more visible.. but they don’t get that push..
Grammy’s are nothing but a huge commercial for what the industry wants pushed down our throats..
if is don’t make dollars, it don’t sense. This is a business. Don’t get this stuff confused. YOUR TALENT AIN’T SH*T IF IS Not MAKING DOLLARS
So the solution to this is to shrink the categories? correct me if im wrong but wont that complicate things even more. I feel that solo and group performances should still be separate as well as female and male categories because things are usually male dominated and you know like I know that when it comes down to it its gonna be an uproar if its too long of a streak by male or female and then that would lead to “pity” awards just to keep things in balance. Some male songs that are sung are just too powerful, as well as with women some of their songs are just heartfelt and mean a lot, and because of the different sexes, i just feel the male and female should stay separate. The best female may not be better than the best male that year and vice-versa. I just think they dropped the ball AGAIN!
So now its not about the private part located between the pant legs but about content and creativity right?
Recovery was garbage.. The only song I can digest on that is “Cold Wind Blows”… The fuckin intro song.. that’s sad…
What about the Roots? They had THE BEST ALBUM… How I Got Over kills any other hip hop album out right now..
Nah that’s what I thought at first but best song is On Fire. It’s still the best soundwise he kills that track.
Seriously, the best album was either How I Got Over, Revolutions Per Minute, or Distant Relatives
…SMH. To say Recovery sucks is like saying The Eminem Show sucks. Recovery is one of his BETTER albums.
Consolidation isn’t a real solution to anything. It won’t bring about any clarity or fairness to the selection process.
*sigh*
Tr3
50 Cent couldn’t do a song like “Love the Way You Lie” because he’s always trying to act too hard. Em has definately found a niche with these songs that at first listen sound softer than toilet paper, but that appeal to the right demographics. That’s why he’s a lock at the Grammy’s.
And for the record, I hated Relapse… Wasn’t impressed with Recovery, and never listened to Love the Way You Lie all the way through. But Em is like the Lakers, while 50 is like the Heat.
I can’t agree with that cause 50 always tries to sneak one in. That “do you think about me” song. All the way back to 21 questions so I don’t see your point.
Seems to me like they want to reduce the airtime for Hip Hop and R&B. I wonder why?