The 57th annual Grammy Awards occurred on February 8th, 2015. Hip Hop made a lot of news during the Grammy’s, but nothing was more talked about than Kanye West going on stage after the announcement of Beck’s Morning Phase winning album of the year. Once again the media and the Hip Hop community were focused on a negative image of Hip Hop.
Despite the lack of coverage and hype, there were some positive things that came from Hip Hop artists during the Grammy’s. Common and John Legend had one of the most powerful performances during the ceremonies with a very soulful rendition of their song Glory off of the Selma soundtrack. A song with a wonderful message of overcoming injustices, that should inspire anyone who is feeling oppressed.
Pharrell Williams performed one of the most upbeat pop songs of 2014, with Happy. During the performance Pharrell, took a moment to make a serious statement to support the Black lives Matter movement by having a group of individuals with hooded sweatshirts behind him put their hands up in a sign
of surrender. Unfortunately this was rarely discussed, as many in the media seemed more focused on his bellhop uniform.
Hip Hop was treated even worse by the Grammy’s as the winners of the Hip Hop categories were announced prior to the airing of the telecast. The last time this happened was in 1989 when DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince decided to boycott the event in protest of the ceremonies lack of respect towards Hip Hop. It was clear that not a lot has changed over the last 25 years as the Grammy’s snubbed Hip Hop again, when everyone was distracted by the actions of Kanye West.
I personally am not a fan of the Grammy’s and feel that that music awards are pointless since art is subjective. I feel that the individuals voting for the awards don’t really know Hip Hop all that well and that the albums nominated don’t really represent the culture, but alas, it must be something Hip Hop participates in to be respected as a genre of music.
The problem is, even after 25 years of participating, one negative action by a rapper can be the excuse the industry will use to disrespect Hip Hop. It may be time for Hip Hop to start distancing itself from the Grammy’s. If popular artists start boycotting like Will & Jazz did in ’89, maybe the award show will realize just how powerful the genre has become and will start to put a little more effort into accepting the culture.
-Megillah
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