For many, the mention of the Grammy Awards can result in a very irritated-sounding groan. The event is controversial in the sense that people hate seeing  artists who don’t ever deserve an award in their lives win over the artists that have helped shape multiple genres (cough cough MACKLEMORE). Other than musical biases, the Grammys have been also known t0 be biased towards white artists, as their outdated ‘‘urban’’ category is a way of placing brown and black artists separately from the white artists, as Tyler The Creator’s album ‘‘Igor’’ won Best Urban Album in 2020 while many (including himself) felt like it should have simply won Album of the Year,  which went to Taylor Swift’s “Folklore.” Only 11 black artists have won album of the year since the creation of the event, which is a glaring embarrassment.

Some Notable Moments
Song of the Year presenter, Questlove, joked about the recent Will Smith Oscars incident,  stating ‘‘All right, I’m going to present this award and I trust that you people will stay 500 feet away from me’’.  Billie Eilish also paid a tribute to the late Taylor Hawkins, drummer of the Foo Fighters, who passed away on the 25th of March while performing her song ‘‘Happier Than Ever’’, wearing a shirt of the drummer at his kit. Even president Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise virtual appearance, as a recorded message in English by him is asking for the audience’s support in the ongoing conflict against Russia, stating “Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos … but our music will break through anyway”. Following this was a special performance by John Legend performing ‘‘Free’’ accompanied by Ukrainian musicians and ending with the site of a donation page that viewers could visit and donate to. Even Tony Bennett made an appearance, introducing Lady Gaga and her tribute performance of his song ‘‘Do I Love You’’.

The Awards
The awards in general were somewhat surprising (albeit some being very predictable), offering an entertaining award pool this year that is culturally groundbreaking. Here are some of the most major ones:

Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best R&B Song: ‘‘Leave the Door Open’’ by Silk Sonic

Album of the Year: ‘‘We Are’’ by Jon Batiste (the first African American artist to win a Grammy in this category since 2008 with Herbie Hancock’s ‘‘River – The Joni Letters’’)

Best New Artist: Olivia Rodrigo

Best Pop Solo Performance: ‘‘drivers license’’ by Olivia Rodrigo

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: ‘‘Kiss Me More’’ by Doja Cat featuring SZA

Best Pop Vocal Album: ‘‘Sour’’ by Olivia Rodrigo

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: ‘‘Love For Sale’’ by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga

Best Rap Album: ‘‘Call Me If You Get Lost’’ by Tyler the Creator

Best Rap Performance: ‘‘Family Ties’’ by Baby Keem featuring Kendrick Lamar

Best Rap Song: ‘‘Jail’’ by Ye featuring Jay Z

Best Melodic Rap Performance: ‘‘Hurricane’’ by Ye featuring the Weekend and Lil Baby

Best R&B Album:  ‘‘Heaux Tales’’ by Jazmine Sullivan

Best Rock Album: ‘‘Medicine At Midnight’’ by the Foo Fighters

Best Rock Song: ‘‘Waiting On A War’’ by the Foo Fighters

Best Metal Performance : ‘‘The Alien’’ by Dream Theater 

Best Country Album: ‘‘Solo’’ by Chris Stapleton

Best Alternative Music Album: ‘‘Daddy’s Home’’ by St. Vincent

Some pretty fair choices, while others may deem to be questionable. I personally don’t have too much of an issue with the selection and am happy that there is more attention to the small number of African Americans garnering album of the year awards. Hopefully this will be the hole in the dam to allow for the flow of awards to come towards those who are deserving of it, no matter their race or social standing. If you ask me though, I would have preferred to see Pharoah Sanders’ ‘‘Promises’’ or Little Simz’s ‘‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’’ win some of the awards, but who am I to complain?