Grammy Girl Galore

BY Brandon Ricketts

Staff Reporter

On Sunday, Feb. 10, The 61st Annual Grammy Award ceremony took place at The STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA.

Hosting this year’s awards for the first time, was 15-time Grammy award winning recording artist, Alicia Keys. It made her the first female to host the Grammy awards in over a decade since Queen Latifah in 2005.

Along with hosting, Keys also performed a tribute to the “Power of Music.” Keys performed songs such as Juice WRLD’s “Lucid Dreams”, Roberta Flack and Fugees “Killing Me Softly With His Song”, Ella Mai’s “Boo’d Up”, Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” and more.

“Alicia Keys is an idol of mine and to see her do what she did in hosting and performing it was as if she could do no wrong,” said junior Jade Bunkley. “I loved everything she did with the ceremony and the recognition she gave multiple artists in her cover of their songs on the pianos.”

Viewers felt that this year’s ceremony gave recognition to women in the music industry.

“This year’s Grammy awards felt like a celebration of women in music.” said Bunkley. “I loved the recognition the women got with winning or sharing a great deal of awards, it made me as a woman feel more important, empowered and appreciated.”

During the ceremony, women won a multitude of awards including best R&B performance for H.E.R.’s song “Best Part” (Ft. Daniel Caesar). As well as album of the year for Kacey Musgraves album, “Golden Hour.”

Aside from the representation of women at the Grammys there was controversy surrounding the nominations. Multi-platinum recording artist, Drake, went on to give a subliminal speech, sharing his opinions about the Grammy nomination review committee.

“We play in an opinion-based sport, not a factual based sport… This is a business where sometimes, you know, it’s up to a bunch of people who might not understand,” said Drake.

He ended his speech by saying, “If there’s people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain and the snow, spending their hard earned money to buy tickets to come to your shows, you don’t need this right here (referring to his Grammy award), I promise you.”

“Drake had the best speech by dissing the Grammys for his Grammy acceptance speech.” said Thomas Kourebanas. “It was a breath of fresh air that someone as seasoned as him was honest about how unimportant the Grammys and award shows in general are becoming. It’s losing the prestige that made it a staple of pop culture.”

Artists such as Eminem have expressed their dislike and refusal to attend the Grammys ceremony because dominant artists come up short in winning Grammy awards that are well deserved.

“I did not know who the girl who won album of the year was but apparently she has good music according to my roommate,” said Bunkley.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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