Award season is in full swing, and now, it’s the Recording Academy’s turn onstage.
Sunday marks the 68th Grammy Awards, with decorated stars like Kendrick Lamar, up-and-comers like Olivia Dean and global icons like Lady Gaga all vying for a chance to take home a trophy.
“It’s best to think of [the Grammys] as a three-and-a-half hour infomercial for the music industry,” said Stephen Thompson, a reviewer for NPR Music who cohosts NPR’s daily podcast, “Pop Culture Happy Hour.” “This is how the music industry wants to present itself to the world, and they’re doing that primarily through live performance.”
With only 10 of the categories being broadcast to a worldwide audience — and a slew of controversial snubs and winners in its past — the Grammys continue to be one of pop culture’s most debated awards shows. Thompson, who believes the ceremony has “come a long way,” said he used to make his Grammy predictions based on the “most embarrassing possible outcome.” In recent years, a wider voting pool has sought to change this.
“There’s been a great diversification of the voting body,” Thompson said. “I think they’re doing a better job of incorporating hip-hop and R&B and Latin music into the major categories.”
Thompson said one of the biggest storylines of this year’s Grammys is the takeover of K-pop, a genre of South Korean hits that recently saw a critical and commercial breakthrough in the United States as “K-Pop Demon Hunters” captivated Netflix audiences. Soundtrack favorite “Golden” is battling for Song of the Year against Doechii, Billie Eilish and Korean superstar Rosé, whose duet with Bruno Mars may land her a Grammy.
“It will be interesting to see how [“Golden”] translates at the Grammys,” said Angélika Beener, a journalist, DJ, producer, podcast host and Under the Radar pop culture contributor. “I have a feeling this could be one of those sleeper upsets for sure.”
Yet for the “Demon Hunters” to claim Grammys glory, they’ll have to fend off Kendrick Lamar, who leads one of the strongest batches of rap nominees in the award show’s history and garnered nine nominations — the most of any artist this year. Puerto Rican icon and this year’s Super Bowl headliner Bad Bunny is also a major player, with his acclaimed album Debí Tirar Más Fotos garnering a whopping six nominations.
“My suspicion is that if it is indeed a two-horse race, Bad Bunny is well-positioned, but you never want to sleep on a Lady Gaga or a Sabrina Carpenter — somebody who has very, very widespread support in the industry,” Thompson said.
Whether they have enormous followings or zero major credits to their name, Thompson and Beener believe recognition from the Recording Academy still holds tremendous weight for musicians. Winning a Grammy — while certainly a boon for an artist’s trophy case — is also a prime chance to book shows, garner attention for future records and boost an artist’s bottom line.
“For someone who’s not in one of these frontrunner categories, to be able to put ‘Grammy Award-nominated’ or ‘Grammy-winning artist’ — if you’re a jazz musician or classical artist or something like that — I think has tremendous cachet,” Beener said.
“If you have won a Grammy, you have been validated by the industry,” Thompson said. “When you die, that will be in the first sentence of your obituary. They absolutely do matter.”
Guests
- Angelika Beener, award-winning journalist, DJ, producer, host of the WBGO podcast “Milestones: Celebrating the Culture,” pop-culture contributor for GBH’s Under the Radar
- Stephen Thompson, host, writer and reviewer for NPR Music; panelist and guest host on All Songs Considered; co-host of the daily NPR podcast “Pop Culture Happy Hour”; co-creator of the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk concerts
