Every February, the biggest names in the music industry gather to celebrate the breakthroughs and achievements of the past year at the Grammy Awards. As usual, household names such as Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar took home some of the biggest awards of the night. However, I was surprised to see such an emphasis on emerging artists, specifically a new generation of female stars.
An L.A. band named Dawes performed Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” in the first act of the night. Musicians such as John Legend, Sheryl Crow and Brad Paisley accompanied the heartfelt rendition and set a tone of solidarity with L.A. that carried on through the night.
Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter performed next. Eilish and Carpenter’s albums, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT and Short n’ Sweet, respectively, garnered both artists the most release-day streams either woman had received. Eilish performed her hit “Birds of a Feather” on a stage resembling the San Gabriel Mountains and Eaton Canyon, areas significant to her upbringing in L.A. Though Eilish’s vocals were beautiful, I expected more from her as a performer. She stood in virtually the same spot the whole act, and at times her vocals were drowned out by the instrumentals. Carpenter’s performance was one of my favorites of the night. She performed a medley of her two singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” blending energetic choreography and a theatrical flair that has become her signature during her last tour.
The nominees for Best Rap Album were mostly established artists such as Eminem and J. Cole. However, it was the newcomer Doechii who took home the award for her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal. I was rooting for Doechii due the uniqueness of her sound and her brave vulnerability in the personal narrative she uses in her songwriting. Doechii became just the third Black woman to win in this category, following Lauryn Hill and Cardi B.
The next performer was Chappell Roan. Roan performed her single “Pink Pony Club” on a stage I can only describe as a midwestern circus. Roan gave a spectacular performance complete with a clown on stilts and a comically large pink pony.
My favorite new additions to the program were the Best New Artist performances, which showcased emerging talent and gave each artist a chance to perform on the biggest stage in music. Among the nominees, Doechii was a standout performer. Doechii performed “CATFISH” and “DENIAL IS A RIVER IN EGYPT” in a well-choreographed and energetic performance. Roan took home the award for Best New Artist, and her acceptance speech was a well-written criticism of music labels’ treatment of emerging artists.
Lamar was the most awarded artist of the night, winning all five of his nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. All his wins were for his song “Not Like Us,” a response to Drake’s “Family Matters” during their highly publicized rap-feud in 2024. “Not Like Us” became the most decorated song in Grammy history, and Lamar now has an impressive 22 Grammy Awards.
The final award of the night was the highly anticipated Album of the Year. The race was one of the most diverse and competitive in recent history. Ultimately, Beyoncé was crowned the winner. Her win felt like a long-overdue triumph, finally breaking her streak of snubs in the category for her albums such as Lemonade and Renaissance. In my opinion, Cowboy Carter was one of Beyoncé’s weakest albums production- and lyric-wise, but nevertheless, her win was historic and deserving of praise.
On the other hand, I thought Eilish’s HIT ME HARD AND SOFT was one of the biggest snubs of the night. The album was nominated for seven awards and lost all of them. I wish Eilish hadn’t gone home empty-handed considering the genius production and instrumentation on the album. However, Eilish’s dominance over the music industry gives me no doubt she will be nominated again in the future.