Sunday, February 2nd,  CBS’s 67th Grammy Awards streamed and the music industry was shown on display. From Taylor Swift to Stevie Wonder, the best of the best attended the event. Of course naturally, after any award show everyone has their opinions and so here’s mine. 

Looking at the “big 4” awards only: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. 

Firstly looking at Record of the Year which according to USNews is “recognizing a song for its full production and thus also awarding the artists, producers and engineers involved.” This year’s nominees were: 

“Now and Then” – The Beatles (Giles Martin & Paul McCartney, producers; Geoff Emerick, Steve Genewick, Jon Jacobs, Greg McAllister, Steve Orchard, Keith Smith, Mark ‘Spike’ Stent & Bruce Sugar, engineers/mixers; Miles Showell, mastering engineer)

“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” –  Beyoncé (Beyoncé, Nate Ferraro, Killah B & Raphael Saadiq, producers; Hotae Alexander Jang, Alex Nibley & Stuart White, engineers/mixers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer)

“Espresso” – Sabrina Carpenter (Julian Bunetta, producer; Julian Bunetta & Jeff Gunnell, engineers/mixers; Nathan Dantzler, mastering engineer)

“360” – Charli xcx (Cirkut & A. G. Cook, producers; Cirkut & Manny Marroquin, engineers/mixers; Idania Valencia, mastering engineer)

“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” – Billie Eilish (FINNEAS & Billie Eilish, producers; Thom Beemer, Jon Castelli, Billie Eilish, Aron Forbes, Brad Lauchert, FINNEAS & Chaz Sexton, engineers/mixers; Dale Becker, mastering engineer)

“Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar (Sean Momberger, Mustard & Sounwave, producers; Ray Charles Brown Jr. & Johnathan Turner, engineers/mixers; Nicolas de Porcel, mastering engineer)

“Good Luck, Babe!” –  Chappell Roan (Dan Nigro, producer; Mitch McCarthy & Dan Nigro, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer)

“Fortnight” – Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone (Jack Antonoff, Louis Bell & Taylor Swift, producers; Louis Bell, Bryce Bordone, Serban Ghenea, Sean Hutchinson, Oli Jacobs, Michael Riddleberger & Laura Sisk, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer)

A very competitive category full of talented artists and very popular songs. In the end “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar came home with the win. Personally I think this is a good option and this song is definitely worthy of this award, it’s production is spot on. Additionally, I believe other great choices for this award were “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter, “360” by Charli xcx, and “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” by Beyoncé. 

Now for Album of the Year, one of the most sought after awards in the music industry. The nominees were: 

New Blue Sun – André 3000

André 3000 & Carlos Niño, producers; André 3000, Carlos Niño & Ken Oriole, engineers/mixers; André 3000, Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau & Carlos Niño, songwriters; Andy Kravitz, mastering engineer

COWBOY CARTER – Beyoncé (Beyoncé, Terius “The-Dream” Gesteelde-Diamant & Dave Hamelin, producers; Matheus Braz, Brandon Harding, Hotae Alexander Jang, Dani Pampuri & Stuart White, engineers/mixers; Ryan Beatty, Beyoncé, Camaron Ochs, Terius “The-Dream” Gesteelde-Diamant, Dave Hamelin, S. Carter & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer)

Short n’ Sweet – Sabrina Carpenter (Jack Antonoff, Julian Bunetta, Ian Kirkpatrick & John Ryan, producers; Bryce Bordone, Julian Bunetta, Serban Ghenea, Jeff Gunnell, Oli Jacobs, Manny Marroquin, John Ryan & Laura Sisk, engineers/mixers; Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff, Julian Bunetta, Sabrina Carpenter, Ian Kirkpatrick, Julia Michaels & John Ryan, songwriters; Nathan Dantzler & Ruairi O’Flaherty, mastering engineers)

BRAT – Charli xcx (Charli xcx, Cirkut & A. G. Cook, producers; A. G. Cook, Tom Norris & Geoff Swan, engineers/mixers; Charlotte Aitchison, Henry Walter, Alexander Guy Cook, Finn Keane & Jonathan Christopher Shave, songwriters; Idania Valencia, mastering engineer)

Djesse Vol. 4 – Jacob Collier (Jacob Collier, producer; Ben Bloomberg, Jacob Collier & Paul Pouwer, engineers/mixers; Jacob Collier, songwriter; Chris Allgood & Emily Lazar, mastering engineers)

HIT ME HARD AND SOFT – Billie Eilish (FINNEAS, producer; Thom Beemer, Jon Castelli, Billie Eilish, Aron Forbes, Brad Lauchert, FINNEAS & Chaz Sexton, engineers/mixers; Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters; Dale Becker, mastering engineer)

Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan (Daniel Nigro, producer; Mitch McCarthy & Daniel Nigro, engineers/mixers; Daniel Nigro & Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer)

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT – Taylor Swift (Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, producers; Zem Audu, Bella Blasko, Bryce Bordone, Serban Ghenea, David Hart, Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Oli Jacobs, Jonathan Low, Michael Riddleberger, Christopher Rowe, Laura Sisk & Evan Smith, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer)

The last award of the evening had everyone on the edge of their seats. I believed it was going to be between Taylor Swift or Beyoncé. Both are big household names and deserving of this award. I also noted that if the Recording Academy wanted to throw a curveball it could have gone to Charli xcx’s BRAT, an album that moved global culture this past year. In the end Beyoncé won Album of the Year for COWBOY CARTER. This moment is historical as Beyoncé has never won this prestigious award in her successful 30+ year career. Additionally, Beyoncé is the first Black woman to receive this honor in the 21st century. While as a major “swiftie” I was a little bummed Taylor Swift didn’t win, Beyoncé did 100% deserve this recognition. 

Next for Song of the Year which honors the songwriters. The nominees this year were: 

“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” — Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams, songwriters (Shaboozey)

“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)

“Die With A Smile” — Dernst Emile II, James Fauntleroy, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars)

“Fortnight” — Jack Antonoff, Austin Post & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone)

“Good Luck, Babe!” — Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, Daniel Nigro & Justin Tranter, songwriters (Chappell Roan)

“Not Like Us” — Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar) 

“Please Please Please” — Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff & Sabrina Carpenter, songwriters (Sabrina Carpenter)

“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” — Brian Bates, Atia Boggs, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Beyoncé)

When looking at the Grammy’s I love to see as many different artists win awards. I think it’s great to see 4 different artists at the “big 4” awards. So “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar winning this award was a little bit of a let down for me. I really saw “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish or “Please Please Please” by Sabrina Carpenter winning this one. However it’s great to see a rap song get recognition at the Grammy’s because it’s often that they get underrepresented

Finally, the most competitive and hard to predict category, Best New Artist. This year’s nominees were:

Benson Boone

Sabrina Carpenter

Doechii

Khruangbin

Raye

Chappell Roan 

Shaboozey

Teddy Swims 

It was amazing that the Grammy’s had every nominee perform during the show, it truly demonstrated how competitive this category was. It was killer performance after killer performance. I believed it was going to either be Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, or Doechii. All three of them had the best performances of the evening and had a breakout year. Chappel Roan came home with the win and it was great to hear her speech addressing the lack of protections from record labels for artists, even with her quirky attitude. 

Another historical moment that occurred last night was Doechii winning Best Rap Album for Alligator Bites Never Heal, which makes her the third black woman to receive this achievement. 

Finally the event took place at Crypto.com Arena located in Downtown Los Angeles which sparked a movement of donations for the recent LA wildfires tragedy, that summed to $7 million. It was additionally inspiring how they included free advertisements for small Los Angeles businesses to provide their support. It’s great to see how our community can come together through a time of suffering to help each other while putting on this entertaining, fantastic award show.