By: Christian Hines
The Grammy’s are some of the most important Music Awards in America, and many artists dream of getting a nomination. This year, the lineup differs majorly from the previous years: Hip-Hop is the major genre on the Album of the Year nominations. Hip-Hop in a sense, is still considerably “new” to most people. It began in the late 70’s, which means that older generations aren’t as familiar with it, and in recent years, it is becoming more and more popular.
In previous years, Grammy nominees were mostly Pop and Country. For example, in 2016 some of the nominees for Album of the Year were Adele’s 25, Justin Bieber’s Purpose, and Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. None of those albums are Hip-Hop and that was usually the case in past years. There was one Hip-H
op nominee that year and that was Drake’s Views, which didn’t win. But Hip-Hop has become increasingly popular over the years in a huge way. Hip-Hop now dominates the Billboard 100 and now, the Grammy’s.
This year’s nominees for Album of the Year are: Childish Gambino’s Awaken, My Love! , Jay-Z’s 4:44 , Kendrick Lamar’s D***. , Lorde’s Melodrama , and Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic. Three of those albums are by Hip-Hop artists and they are top contenders to win. But Album of the Year isn’t the only category where Hip-Hop is taking over. In the Record of the Year category, three of the songs are by Hip-Hop artists. Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, and Jay-Z are on both categories this year. These are not even the Hip-Hop categories, and yet Hip-Hop obviously is the dominant force.
But Hip-Hop isn’t the only thing that is different about the Grammy’s this year, African-Americans are a large majority of the artists nominated. This is a positive thing for America and African-Americans as a whole. This year’s Grammy’s will hopefully be a good start for this year in the music industry, and a good year for Hip-Hop as well. I am very excited for what is to come this year in music, and so far, it looks like it’s going to be a great year.
Image Captions:
Image 1: Headshot of Donald Glover/Childish Gambino smiling
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