As Superstorm Nemo (known informally as Hoth iceplanet) battered the East Coast like it was a streetwalker withholding 5 dollars, The Grammys Monster descended on the West in an unprecedented two-front assault on America's shores. Grammys season is always full of big announcements, big releases, live premieres (and usually big pay-offs for Okayplayer artists) and last night's 55th Annual Awards show was no exception, even if it felt at times like an 'opposites' sketch. Miguel and Wiz Khalifa came dressed as The White Stripes and Jack White came dressed as Elvez. Frank Ocean came dressed as Bob Marley, delivered a stunning, career-high performance from the waist up while he ran a marathon along a desert highway with his lower half (watch below)--all while his Forrest Guts were winning "Best Urban Contemporary Album." Then got snubbed for the "Best New Artist" category in favor of Fun, which was, paradoxically, a fucking downer chased with an ineffective anti-depressant ("We're so old!" lead singer Nate Ruess shouted as he held the award aloft. I can't write this stuff myself.) Ocean was also beat out for Album of the Year by Mumford & Sumshit and Record of the Year by Gotye & Kimbra, who damn near turned their backs on the audience to stare at Prince, who upstaged the entire 3-hour show by saying "oh, I love this song" as he presented their award (below).
So it's always nice to see some things never change--LL Cool J is still rapping and considering he's been rocking the bells for nigh unto 40 years now he still looks phenomenal, B. I think everybody knew Drake would grab the "Best Album" title (that's okay, though Nas only needs 1 mic) and that Miguel's "Adorn" was the "R&B Song of The Year" by a margin of 100,000 trillion. But the biggest upset of the night was undoubtedly the Robert Glasper Experiment's win for "Best R&B Album" --a much deserved look for a brilliant record and vindication for all those who were mad that they didn't see it here. In between the craziness Justin Timberlakedropped a new song , Bob Marley got a real tribute from Sting, Rihanna, Bruno Mars and Ziggy Marley (click true to LargeUp to watch that one) and Lupe Fiasco announced the name of his new album (bottom). To relive the highlights, start clicking play buttons below:
spotted at MWP
