Grammy Award Show A Hip-Hop Hooray. Was America Ready For It?

When I was a kid they used to laugh at our music.  In the absence of a radio and a cassette player, we learned to bust a beat.  That beat often required a little extra spit in the air to create the super low bass sounds (hence the laughter), but it never stopped us from dropping a beat and busting a rhyme.

By the time the legendary Beastie Boys came around even I grew weary.  The style was dope, but it didn't sound like they were actually saying anything so I thought it was rap mockery and decided that the elders were right.  This rap stuff was just a fad.

Public Enemy, the Jungle Brothers and KRS One; rappers who made you listen closely and grab a dictionary to digest the message, brought me back for good.  Throughout the years, it felt like the rap lovers were trying too hard to keep the genre alive in a world without a taste for it.

Suddenly one day, a magical group called Run DMC showed the world how to 'walk this way' and the world said yes.  Their rap rock fusion with Aerosmith ushered in the ever increasing demand for the world of hip-hop music.

Last nights Grammy award performance began with a sizzling performance from Beyonce and Jay Z that had me feeling the beat and the heat (if you haven't seen it, watch it).

Soon after, we saw an awesome live performance from newcomer Lorde who's hit song, Royal is melodic hip-hop at it's finest with a rap cadence to the entire song.


On a hip-hop side note, the Grammy's offered a mythical war between the new white rapper Macklemore, and the crowned king of hip-hop, Kendrick Lamar who is black.  Both were up for similar awards and rap aficionado's began a debate over who would win the most.  Both artists did perform, but the review's after the show made it clear that neither are in the same category of music,  they simply share the title of rapper.

 Lamar had a "here I am world" performance for all of those who don't follow rap closely enough to know that he's been here for a while now.  His total mastery over the spoken word is breath taking to even those who don't have a clue how hard it is to rhyme with time and flow at a show.

Macklemore offered his signature tune 'Same Love' as background music to a 33 couple, gay marriage ceremony led by none other than hip-hop legend Queen Latifah.  If hip-hop didn't have enough of a fingerprint on the Grammy's, than the "momma said knock you out" punch came from the show's host,  LL Cool J, a rap legend himself.

The show closed with a killer collaboration.  Performing the record of the year "Get Lucky" by the euro group Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers.  Williams is famous for his production work in the world of hip-hop and might be the king of hip-hop fusion. Stevie Wonder thought highly enough of this record to join the gang on stage to perform it.  One word....Awesome.

There will clearly be those who enjoy this tune but do not see it as the record of the year, but they are missing the worldwide appeal that this group already had, and that this song achieved.  Get lucky is clearly more disco than hip-hop, yet the beat feels familiar even if the Grammy show was not.

This ain't your grandma's Grammy's, especially if your grandma  grew up with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.  However, you can tell grandma that they were both in the crowd rocking with the rest, and they approve.