It’s Monday, the beginning of the work week. If you’re reading this post though, then you already know, it’s not just any Monday night. It’s music’s “biggest” nigh…it’s GRAMMY night. Tonight on CBS, the The 2016 Grammy Awards ceremony will be held on tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California and broadcast live on CBS nationwide, at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT, this year with no delay for west coast.
The GRAMMYS of course are known for their weird stunt”never before seen” duet casting (hey…look, it Willie Nelson and Justin Bieber singing “Mama Don’t Let Your Baby Grow Up To Be Sorry”) or for having two people present an award who are in completely opposing genre (hey, look, it’s 50 Cent presenting with Aretha Franklin). This year, other than the tributes for Earth, Wind and Fire and David Bowie, along with Run DMC being inducted in GRAMMY Hall of Fame, I don’t really have any idea who’s performing. This is also the first time in years that I can’t DVR the show, so I’ll be basically be watching LIVE like almost everyone else at home (Don’t even get me started on having no DVR this year. Who’s bright idea was it to scheduled the GRAMMYs the same time as X-Files!!! Damn you tv Gods). So I won’t be talking about who’s scheduled to perform or what crazy pairing they have in store for us tonight. Instead, I’ll just get right into my pics for the major categories. We’ll see how I did at the end of the night. During the actual show, you can follow me on twitter or FB and see my up to date commentary, here’s hoping for some great performances or at least some crazy antics. For more on what’s planned for tonight’s broadcast, check out this EW article: What time are the Grammys? And other burning questions answered!
Alright, so in no order of importance, I’m gonna just give my picks for tonight’s winners and in some cases, I’ll even make a quip or two. In each category, I’ve my personal picks will be in red. In cases where I think it’s either or, you may see 2 choices in red.
Album of the Year
Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes
To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar
Traveller, Chris Stapleton
1989, Taylor Swift
Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd
Song of the Year
“Alright,” Kendrick Lamar (Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Kawan Prather, Mark Anthony Spears, and Pharrell Williams)
“Blank Space,” Taylor Swift (Written by Max Martin, Shellback, and Taylor Swift)
“Girl Crush,” Little Big Town (Written by Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna, and Liz Rose)
“See You Again,” Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth (Written by Andrew Cedar, Justin Franks, Charles Puth, and Cameron Thomaz)
“Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran (Written by Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge)
Girl Crush – never heard of it. Thinking Out Loud – guilty pleasure, love this song whenever I hear it on the radio. Blank Space – ugh…T-Swizzle is so simplistic as a song writer…bleh. Alright by Kendrick, Love the song, the video and the sentiment, it’s by Black anthem…See You Again – bleh…never saw the movie, if not for Paul Walker’s death, would the song even be a hit?
Record of the Year
“Really Love,” D’Angelo and the Vanguard
“Uptown Funk,” Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
“Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran
“Blank Space,” Taylor Swift
“Can’t Feel My Face,” The Weeknd
Can’t Feel My Face – been all over radio, but not even my fav song by The Weekend, so… Thinking Out Loud – again, low key love this song…a if The Weekend’s song has been on the radio all the time…this song is on even more. Blank Space – again…enough Taylor Swift, this isn’t even that great a song and it’s not even the strongest in this category. Really Love – Look, I love D’Angelo, but I don’t even know the melody to this song? Hell, I tried to sing it in my head and I realized i actually sang it to the melody from an old D’Angelo classic song. Uptown Funk – if the song from The Weekend & Ed Sheeren was all over the radio…Uptown Funk was all over the stratosphere…radio, tv, internet, movies, hell, it even made it onto the Superbowl!!! Clear winner to me.
Best New Artist
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor
I have no skin in this game, I really only know 2 of the artist nominated for this category, and only Meghan Trainor is one who’s songs I actually know and have listened to. So I’ll give this one to Meghan
Best Rap Album
2014 Forest Hills Drive, J. Cole
Compton, Dr. Dre
If Youre Reading This Its Too Late, Drake
To Pimp A Butterfly Kendrick Lamar
The Pinkprint, Nicki Minaj
Another category for which I have no vested interest in the winner. If I were to chose, it will be between JCole and Kendrick Lamar. I’m giving the edge to Kendrick…11 noms, this is his BEST category to win where the other noms are not subpar, just not critical-acclaim
Best Pop Duo/ Group Performance
“Ship To Wreck,” Florence + The Machine
“Sugar,” Maroon 5
“Uptown Funk,” Mark Ronson. Ft Bruno Mars
“Bad Blood,” Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar
“See You Again,” Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth
This is a good category, all but one of these songs I’ve heard on radio (Florence & the Machine isn’t really pop radio friendly). Of the remaining 4 songs, the weakest link is Maroon 5…I mean I’ve heard Sugar on the radio, but not enough to even remember past the chorus and the album it’s from didn’t make any waves that I’m aware of. T. Swizzle’s Bad Blood, IMHO, the song is only sold by the video and the fact that it’s Swift’s usual passive aggressive, gossipy dig at Katy Perry. The biggest competition is between Uptown Funk and See You Again. In that case, no contest, I say Uptown Funks wins this one.
Best Pop Solo Performance
“Heartbeat Song,” Kelly Clarkson
“Love Me Like You Do,” Ellie Goulding
“Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran
“Blank Space,” Taylor Swift
“Can’t Feel My Face,” The Weekend
Taylor Swift again, I would say is at the bottom of this grouping along with Ellie Goulding and Kelly Clarkson. I think this category gonna be between Sheeran and The Weekend, with Sheeran maybe edging out The Weekend because someway somehow he’s considered an R&B artist, cause he’s Black I guess.
The GRAMMY has ALOT of award categories, but not all are broadcast LIVE on telecast. The following categories are big ones, but I’m not too sure if they’ll be on the telecast. So for these categories, I’ve just given my pick for winner and
BEST RAP PERFORMANCE – Kendrick Lamar “Alright”
BEST RAP SONG – Funny enough, it’ll be between to of the “protest” type songs from last year… “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar, and “Glory” by John Legend and Common. This one is a hard one for me…personally, I’d go with Kendrick, but if this is the only nom for “Glory”, I’ll give the edge to the theme from Selma
BEST R&B SONG – This one should go to either Andra Day or Tamar Braxton. The other noms, one I have no idea who are what a “Hiatus Kaiyote” is, just cause The Weekend is Black don’t make Earned It an R&B song, and JCole is a rapper, IDK if Jeremiah sings the hook.
BEST R&B ALBUM – I don’t even care who the other nominees are, I want this one for Jazmine Sullivan. She’ll have heavy competition I bet from Charlie Wilson and Andra Day, but, IMHO Jazmine deserves this one.
Alright, that’s all I’ve got…Do you agree with my picks? If so hit me up on twitter @psddluva4evah or if you are a friend on Facebook, or just go ahead and leave a comment later…I’ll try to update the winners in each category later tonight, or as I see them.
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