Happy Monday, you crazy kids. While most bemoan the “Dog Days of Summer” when the NBA ends and all we have to enjoy is middle-of-the-road baseball, I think I would gladly take that over the week or so that follows the conclusion of the Super Bowl—and I say this as one of the biggest fans of the NBA All-Star Weekend you’ll find. Sure, we have some NBA Trade Deadline rumors, but the actual deadline isn’t for a few days; the NFL combine is still a few weeks away and folks are just now departing for Spring Training. It won’t be more than a few days before the action picks up, but man—between the early goings of February and the 19th, things are sllllooooowwwwwwww.
Which is why the next few weekends will be littered with award shows. Grammys. Oscars. Even the iHeartRadio Awards… February and early March are always Awards Season where the best of the last year get together to sip champagne, laugh at each others jokes and celebrate the last year in their respective fields. Some people loathe these activities while millions watch at home every single year, many of whom add Red Carpet viewing to their evening. It’s a thing, and it’s not going away any time soon. Bemoan all you want—the NFL broadcasts random kids running cone drills and doing the long jump. We’re a generation of voyeurs. Good news is, MLB’s Opening Day is just a few weeks away. Watching baseball is way less creepy.
♦♦♦
There’s a bizarre, long-running narrative—mostly permeating from those outside of the target demographic—that attempts to paint today’s pop music as anything less than it truly is. Generations collide, the older waving their rakes while the younger ignores them completely as they fumble through their Apple Music library with earbuds in place, when the truth is that generational landscapes are rarely able to be compared. Today’s pop music blend tech-based production elements and distribution channels that weren’t even dreams in prior decades. Rather than albums simply showing up in record stores, we get to follow artists along as they create their work and upload studio sessions to Instagram or release unmastered tracks on Soundcloud.
Music is often listened to through a weird prism of time where we compare and contrast something new to what we already know. While there is plenty of noise, this has always been the case, but nostalgia lends itself to forgetting the less-than-fond memories. Eighties pop fans choose to remember Madonna and Whitney while laughing at any notion that Bobby McFerrin even existed though the latter won Song and Record of the Year in 1989.
While it could be debated that the last several years have been a bit of a lull of music, an industry trying to cope with changes in how fans obtain and listen to albums after almost a decade full of singles-based distribution, it could also be debated that the last year-plus in music has been fantastic. Streaming new albums has never been easier. Rihanna’s new album Anti (which won’t be eligible for nomination until 2017) was certified platinum before it was dropped to the masses. All it takes is one look at any of Andrew’s While We’re Waiting… posts and you’ll see that there is quality stuff being put out almost by the week.
The year 2015 saw some breakout performances from guys like Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd and a sophomore masterpiece from Kendrick Lamar. Bruno Mars has gotten loads of credit for a song that isn’t even his, while pop’s darling, Taylor Swift, released an album that was in the news for various reasons.
The Grammy’s, which despite it’s devaluation over the years, is still the NARAS’ most recognized accolade for musicians. Given that the event is typically on a Sunday night, I wouldn’t have gotten a chance to discuss them in prior years. Given that the 2016 edition is tonight, I’m going to go through some of the larger awards and give my predictions. Here’s what you need to know: Kendrick Lamar received the most nominations with 11, passing Eminem as the hip-hop artists with the most nominations in a single night; second overall behind Michael Jackson (12 nominations in 1984). Taylor Swift and The Weeknd received seven nominations each. Producer Max Martin received the most nominations for a non-performing artist, with six. Performers include Swift, Lamar, Adele, Rihanna, Sam Hunt, The Weeknd, and (for you old guys) The Eagles. And LL Cool J will host for the fifth straight year.
So let’s dig in…
Best Solo Performance
Kelly Clarkson “Heartbeat Song”
Ellie Goulding “Love Me Like You Do”
Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift “Blank Space”
The Weeknd “Can’t Feel My Face”
This award could wind up being The Weeknd’s first big disappointment. Though 2015 was undoubtedly his breakout campaign, he’s running up against a tough gamut here with Swift and Ed Sheeran. Sheeran could pull this thing out in a bit of a shocker, but this one appears to be queued up for Swift.
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Florence + The Machine “Ship to Wreck”
Maroon 5 “Sugar”
Mark Ronson f/Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk”
Taylor Swift f/ Kendrick Lamar “Bad Blood”
Wiz Khalifa f/ Charlie Puth “See You Again”
Lamar not being in the widely played radio edit of “Bad Blood” will work against Swift here. Wiz Khalifa’s song from the latest Fast and Furious soundtrack got a ton of love, but it was “Uptown Funk” that was played in arenas and stadiums throughout the country, almost on loop. If you want to talk staying power, the song was released in November of 2014 and was played at the latest Super Bowl, Ronson on the 1s and 2s, complete with Chris Martin and Beyonce. I’d be very surprised if it didn’t bring home this award.
Best Pop Vocal Album
Kelly Clarkson, Piece by Piece
Florence + The Machine, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Taylor Swift, 1989
James Taylor, Before This World
Mark Ronson, Uptown Special
This award seems primed for the Grammys to go all Grammy and give James Taylor some love, but Swift is gearing up for an unstoppable run at these big awards.
Best Music Video
A$AP Rocky “LSD”
The Dead Weather “I Feel Love”
Kendrick Lamar “Alright”
Taylor Swift f/Kendrick Lamar “Bad Blood”
Pharrell Williams “Freedom”
Kendrick Lamar gets the rare double nod in this category, but it’ll be his futuristic spot with Swift in “Bad Blood” that gets the nod. “Alright” is undoubtedly a better Lamar track, but the video gives way here.
Best R&B Performance
Tamar Braxton “If I Don’t Have You”
Andra Day “Rise Up”
Hiatus Kaiyote “Breathing Underwater”
Jeremih f/ J. Cole “Planes”
The Weeknd “Earned It”
The Weeknd’s newest album is incredibly successful, but it will be this track from the 50 Shades of Gray soundtrack that gets him his first Grammy. I don’t see any competition from the field here.
Best R&B Song
Miguel “Coffee”
Jazmine Sullivan “Let It Burn”
D’Angelo and the Vanguard “Really Love”
Tyrese “Shame”
The Weeknd “Earned It”
Ditto here. It’s going to be a (much-deserved) solid night from the wild-haired kid from Canada.
Best Rap Song
Kanye West f/ Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom, and Paul McCartney “All Day”
Drake “Energy”
Common and John Legend “Glory”
Fetty Wap “Trap Queen”
Kendrick Lamar “Alright”
This field looks considerably tighter than it is given that “Trap Queen” was the song of the summer and the Common-John Legend track received a ton of praise. If we use a little math and common sense, however, we’ll notice that it’s “Alright” that’s nominated for Song of the Year, an honor bestowed to no other tracks in this group. Given that “Alright” could win the big award (spoiler: it won’t), this will have to be K-Dot’s consolation prize.
Best Rap Performance
J. Cole “Apparently”
Drake “Back to Back”
Fetty Wap “Trap Queen”
Kendrick Lamar “Alright”
Nicki Minaj f/ Drake, and Lil Wayne “Truffle Butter”
Kanye West f/ Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom, and Paul McCartney “All Day”
Same field, as above, with the insertion of Nicki Minaj into the fold. This one’s Kendrick’s as well.
Best Rap Album
J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive
Dr. Dre, Compton
Drake, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late
Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly
Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint
With To Pimp a Butterfly getting not just recognition from the Grammy committee for being one of the best albums of the year, but from other critics both mainstream and independent, there’s no doubt that Lamar nabs this award. Drake and Dr. Dre (and even Nicki is a bit underrated here) gave it their all, but they ran into a buzzsaw after Kendrick was shut out a few years back with Good Kidd MAAD City. Blame Macklemore.
Best New Artist
Courtney Barnett
James Bay
Sam Hunt
Tori Kelly
Meghan Trainor
I can’t stand Meghan Trainor or any song she appears on. If it were up to me, Sam Hunt would win this award, and this is coming from someone who isn’t fond of country music whatsoever. But Trainor is very Grammy and will likely take home this award. Hopefully it doubles as a going away present.
Song of the Year
Little Big Town “Girl Crush”
Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift “Blank Space”
Kendrick Lamar “Alright”
Wiz Khalifa f/Charlie Puth “See You Again”
Here’s where things get super interesting. Both Sheeran and Lamar could jostle for the top, but the latter could split votes with Khalifa’s single. Think of it like a Heisman vote where the regions only end up shooting themselves in the foot by giving votes to the players closest to them. Swift squeaks this one out.
Record of the Year
D’Angelo and the Vanguard “Really Love”
Mark Ronson f/ Bruno Mars “Uptown Funk”
Ed Sheeran “Thinking Out Loud”
Taylor Swift “Blank Space”
The Weeknd “Can’t Feel My Face”
Where she doesn’t, however, is when she goes up against Ronson and his uber catchy funk. Sheeran and The Weeknd will be worthy competition, but Bruno—undoubtedly wearing sunglasses indoors–will get some additional love here.
Album of the Year
Alabama Shakes, Sound and Color
The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
Chris Stapleton, Traveller
Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly
Taylor Swift, 1989
And finally, the big one. Chris Stapleton’s album is easily one of the best country albums of the last few years. The Weeknd, as stated earlier, is a quality listen. A hip-hop artist has never won Album of the Year, and if anyone was going to break that mold, it’ll be Kendrick Lamar—TPAB was incredibly innovative and a true album. If the Grammy’s really wanted to troll the hell out of everyone (and don’t count this out), they’d give the award to the Alabama Shakes. But if the dust settles as I believe it will, the credits will roll shortly after Taylor Swift wins her fourth or fifth big award of the night. Music sites will be all up in arms, but the girl is the biggest pop star on the planet and released an album with half a dozen singles that went No. 1. Her winning the night’s biggest award will be tough to argue.
That doesn’t mean we wont…
♦♦♦
A couple things to note in this week’s edition of #ActualSportswriting. First, the Professional Basketball Writers Association announced their annual contest winners for the 2015 year with Chris Ballard, Kevin Ding, Jason Quick and Marc J. Spears taking home top honors. What’s cool though is that they list first, second and third place in each of the categories—breaking news, columns, features, and game stories. I particularly like this as it shows that newsers, gamers and columns can be written just like features where every sentence has meaning, either informing or painting the picture.
I recommend checking out the link to the contest winners as Spears’ gamer that earned the top spot is about Game 4 of the NBA Finals. And kudos to Jonathan Abrams for shouting out his editors.
Thankful to be linked with a talented group. S/o to @Rafeboogs and @julietlitman who worked hard on that story too https://t.co/9eJOsnI6z0
— Jonathan Abrams (@Jpdabrams) February 15, 2016
“The Wow Factor” by Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr. (ESPN.com): “Most owners meetings are boring. Some members doze. Groupthink often prevails. Not this time. For hours, the owners argued and traded barbs. New York Jets owner Woody Johnson spoke in support of Kroenke four times, to the annoyance of others waiting to be heard just once. Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross joked that the league should hold an auction for the right to relocate, though some owners thought he was serious. Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson argued that Spanos, a beloved owner who for more than a decade had tried to build a new stadium in San Diego, deserved the market.”1
“I was a Super Bowl Concession Worker” by Gabriel Thompson (Slate): “I swipe my card at 8:36 a.m. I am now on the clock, more than 90 minutes after I arrived to catch the shuttle. This unpaid time is likely illegal: In 2000, the California Supreme Court ruled that employers who require workers to travel in company vehicles must be paid from the time they were told to arrive at the departure point. On the other hand, at least we’re getting paid something, which is more than can be said for the 5,000 volunteers the Super Bowl host committee recruited to greet people in the week leading up to the game. Or the 500 other volunteers who will lug the pieces of the stage onto the field for the halftime show, and who put in at least 34 hours of rehearsal time during the past two weeks—more unpaid labor, a subsidy of sorts for the Pepsi-sponsored halftime extravaganza.”2
“On ESPN and the joke of a Public Editor role” by Richard Deitsch (SI): “Brady clearly was no-commented in some parts and directed to previous statements elsewhere. That onus is squarely on ESPN management and what seems to be a continued devaluing of the public editor position from the days of the best ombudsman, Le Anne Schreiber… I admire ESPN has a public editor and I subscribe to the notion that all good news orgs should have one including Sports Illustrated. But readers are left this as a takeaway: ESPN’s executives not commenting on the record to its public editor for the Grantland piece derails the whole idea of having a public editor. It cuts the position off at the knees.” 3
“Mike Carey has a tough job” by Jenny Vrentas (MMQB): ” know what [a hit rate] is because I have been inundated with it. There are plays I would like to have back; there are a couple days I would like to have back, for that matter. But not unlike all the other experts who chose who was going to win the AFC Championship, I make errors. Everybody makes errors. But when you look at the record, I am happy with how I have synced up with New York’s reviews of plays. We’re about 90 percent [matching with the league office]. It is curious though, that whenever I disagree, in this day of high criticism of officiating, and New York is right 100 percent of the time? But I’m happy to be the lightning rod for the officials on the field.” 4
♦♦♦
And finally...She’s on ABC!
Have a great Monday, you guys. Stay warm.
Reporting at its finest: A look at the behind-the-scenes power struggles involved in potential relocation of an NFL franchise.
The snippet for this piece says ‘What it’s like making less than $13 an hour to serve $13 beers at one of the biggest games on Earth.’ What it doesn’t mention is the lack of breaks and the stolen wages that come with it.
OK. I admit to giving this my own custom title, but this is the portion that I wanted to highlight here—that ESPN, for all their rights, can’t stop from stepping on their own feet. The Grantland issue shouldn’t have been an issue at all, until they made it one. This, of course, isn’t to devalue Deitsch’s excellent reporting on Holly Rowe’s battle with cancer.
And finally, an excellent Q&A with one of the most criticized individuals every single Sunday. The league does him zero favors with their absurd interpretation of rules.