The Grammy Awards - Opinion
In a world filled with war, earthquakes, weather disasters, and political unrest - MUSIC still has the power to bring us together. We do it by example. And nothing could be more exemplary than last night’s Grammy Awards Show.
It was a lovefest featuring all genres and generations celebrating the accomplishments of each other. But, isn’t that our game plan? Songwriters write to inform and maybe enlighten, and all of us reach out to communicate. It’s in our DNA. As an industry, all of us are supportive of each other. And might I add very accepting of all things human. Sure, sometimes we don’t understand each other, our music, our style, or our cultures. But, at our core, we are all just artists trying to entertain. Nobody dives into a show thinking, “I can’t wait to depress my audience.” More likely we invoke the infamous words of the great, George Clinton, “Ain’t nothin’ but a party, y’all.”
The show opened with Bad Bunny. Totalmente en Espanol, verdad? Por supuesto! Of course! You don’t need to understand the language to dance. He is as real as real gets. HUGE in Puerto Rico and spreading fast to the rest of the world. Unapologetically speaking in his native Spanish is indicative of his whole persona. He is as he is. The rhythms are energetic and very Latin.
The Motown review featured generations of performers. Listening to Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder with strong support from Chris Stapleton. Blues, Country, Soul, sure. It all works. And it works together.
The Rap Review!!!! 50 Years. It was a personal joy to see Salt-N-Pepa doing their thing with Run DMC and Busta Rhymes. Those two girls walked into my assistant’s office when she worked at Next Plateau. Young and on fire. Committed and completely naïve. They more than survived. They flourished.
So many great performances. Too many to mention. Go online and see some of your favorites… and please, listen to some artists you’ve never heard of.
I will mention a great moment for me. Dr. Jill Biden awarded the Song of the Year to Bonnie Raitt! Some of the younger artists were stunned. How could she beat out Lizzo, Beyonce, Harry Styles, and the like? Easy. She’s a great songwriter. Even Snoop Dogg asked the question, “Who the F--- is she?” Brother Snoop, she was winning Grammy Awards before Beyonce was even born. Trust me. I am sure he looked her up. Now he knows.
Music is our universal language.
The show was long. But, the music industry is vast. We’re a little too compartmentalized. I doubt anyone over fifty could rattle off the names of even three pop artists in their teens. And I guarantee, not one Rapper could name three Beatles.
Music will never be returned to the glory days of Classic Rock. The times and the technology won’t allow it. But, that’s OK. We must all move forward. Embrace the past and build on it. Embrace each other and pray that the rest of the world can enjoy what music can do for our hearts and souls.