5 Grammys that went to the wrong people in 2021, and who should've won instead
Callie Ahlgrim
- The 63rd annual Grammy Awards took place in Los Angeles on Sunday.
- Despite a historic and well-received ceremony, at least five awards went to the wrong artists.
- Megan Thee Stallion should've won record of the year, and BTS deserved best pop group performance.
The 63rd annual Grammy Awards took place on Sunday, and it proved to be a memorable evening.
Taylor Swift became the first woman to win album of the year three times, while Beyoncé became the most-awarded female artist in Grammys history.
Even the ceremony itself was surprisingly well-received, despite challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic.
But of course, a major award show never executes everything perfectly.
Despite the refreshing variety of winners, voters made several glaring stumbles. The five most egregious are listed below, in no particular order.
Billie Eilish won record of the year, but Megan Thee Stallion deserved it more.
This is not to say that Billie Eilish does not deserve another Grammy Award for record of the year. "Everything I Wanted" is easily one of her best songs, and one of the best dark-pop ballads in recent memory.
But as Eilish herself acknowledged, this should've been Megan Thee Stallion's year, through and through. The Recording Academy spent a good portion of Sunday's ceremony hyping up Megan as the year's essential star, only to deny her the top prize.
"Savage" symbolizes Megan's power. It was nothing short of a cultural reset and should not have been relegated to genre-specific categories.
"Rain on Me" shouldn't have triumphed over "Dynamite."
"Rain on Me" is a glorious pop-princess collaboration, and "Dynamite" isn't even BTS' best single of 2020. So on its face, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande winning best pop duo/group performance makes sense.
However, the Grammys are already embarrassingly behind when it comes to embracing non-American artists — and the brilliance of K-pop specifically — so a triumph for BTS this year would've been far more appropriate.
"Dynamite" represents the adaptability, polish, and domination of the world's biggest band. It's the kind of music that immediately puts a smile on your face — like if you could distill the concept of pop and boil it down to its purest, most potent essence, you'd be left with Jungkook chirping, "I, I, I'm in the stars tonight." The song will undoubtedly delight the masses for generations to come.
Ultimately, the Grammys' failure to reward BTS' first-ever No. 1 hit will go down in history as a gross blunder.
Thundercat's "It Is What It Is" was named best progressive R&B album. It should've been Chloe x Halle's "Ungodly Hour."
Musical polymath Thundercat and sister duo Chloe x Halle both released stellar albums in 2020. The former is an abstract jazz-addled journey, while the latter is a monument to sleek hooks and vocal magnificence.
Both have been critically acclaimed and well-received by fans, but the poppier, more refined "Ungodly Hour" should've had the edge here.
The album boasts a sort of clarity, a strong sense of self, that feels timeless and transcends current trends.
"Ungodly Hour" landed in the top half of several year-end lists, including Pitchfork (No. 28), NPR (No. 23), Rolling Stone (No. 19), Billboard (No. 17), Complex (No. 15), The Guardian (No. 12), Insider (No. 9), and Time (No. 2). The same can't be said for "It Is What It Is."
Anderson .Paak's "Lockdown" won best melodic rap performance, even though "The Box" and "Rockstar" were both nominated.
Anderson .Paak is a genius and "Lockdown" is a deeply relevant song, but it makes little sense for it to win best melodic rap performance when it was opposed by not one, but two "Big Four" nominees.
Roddy Ricch collected six Grammy nominations this year, including song of the year for his smash hit "The Box." DaBaby collected four, including record of the year for his irresistible summer bop "Rockstar."
Neither rapper went home with a single award.
"The Box" and "Rockstar" were both defining songs of 2020 and at least one should've been rewarded in a genre-specific category, even if it would've felt like a consolation prize.
Somehow, Kanye West won best contemporary Christian music album for "Jesus Is King."
Look, I don't know much about contemporary Christian music, but I know an album with the actual lyrics "Closed on Sunday, you my Chick-fil-A / You're my No. 1, with the lemonade" did not deserve to win.
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