And so, it was that Kanye's verse didn't make the cut for Sunday's live performance of "Forever". My theory is that the Grammy team didn't think Kanye's ambiguous message (e.g. this post's title...) would fly.
I'm not usually a fan of live hip-hop for two reasons: hip-hop beats' oft-complicated texture rarely translates well to live performances,* and the rappers themselves often fail to produce stunning on-stage output. So it was great to see a fantastic (if heavily-censored) performance by Drake, Wayne and Em. Eminem in particular was stunning. That man may be a hip-hop bit player right now - relegated to guest-verse status, not quite capable of carrying a whole track or album - but, damn, he can rap.
Reading over the full list of Grammy winners here, I was struck by the breadth and diversity of the world's music - and by how much of it I simply haven't experienced. Just look at all those categories. Maybe in 2010, I'll find the earworms in places besides the old stand-bys of rock, rap, R&B and pop.
What'd you all think of the Grammys?
* The same's true of rock, but less so; in my opinion, there's better translation. Plus, rockers can compensate with embellished solos -- and live performance (touring, shows, etc) is firmly embedded into rock and roll culture.
Blackpink – Go
6 days ago
