The beginning of February marked the 66th annual Grammys. Winners ranged from Miley Cyrus winning “Best Pop Solo Performance” for her song “Flowers”, to Jay Z being awarded the “Dr. Dre Global Impact Award.”
However one of the biggest winners of the night was Taylor Swift as she swept away the biggest honor of the night for “Album of the Year” for her album Midnights making history as the first artist to win the award 4 times.
Midnights produced some of Swift’s greatest hits including “Karma”, “Anti – Hero”, “Bejeweled”, etc. However, with it being a very hard-hitting category with her being put up against artists such as SZA for her album SOS and Lana Del Rey for Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd and along with the massive media coverage Swift has managed to garner recently,
the question is brought up of whether she truly deserved to win or if the Grammy’s have turned into a popularity contest.
There is no denying the impact that Swift has had on music through her numerous hits spanning across her almost 18-year-long career starting from her debut album self titled Taylor Swift (2006).
She also does a good job of conveying a vast array of messages such as through “Anti Hero” in which she expresses her personal struggles and how people tend to villainize her in the media.
However, these messages tend to be lost under what is at times a lackluster basic pop production and very monotone songs which make them seem very standstill with no buildup whatsoever.
Midnights also doesn’t really bring anything that we haven’t heard from the pop star before. Overall, it is nothing special in the grand scheme of music for the year especially when compared to Swift’s fellow nominees for “Album of the Year”
One great nominee was Lana Del Rey for her album Did You Know There’s a Tunel Under Ocean Blvd. This album was a great journey in showcasing Lana’s soothing vocals bringing a uniqueness that we don’t typically see in music.
This is put in the forefront in songs such as the title song “Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd”, “Sweet”, “Let the Light in” ft John Misty, and many more.
Del Rey’s vivid imagery through her lyrics also create a very immersive experience when listening to the album. However, there were many more well-received and popular albums in the category and despite it being a strong album, it is understandable how it wouldn’t be for everyone with Lana’s more melancholy and softer songs/production.
Rather than Midnights the award would’ve been better off given to SZA for SOS. SOS is a great vocal showcase through very catchy tracks such as “I Hate U”, “Nobody Gets Me”, “Seek & Destroy”, “Good Days”, and one of her biggest hits “Kill Bill” along with many other great tracks.
It also does a great job of showing off SZA’s versatility ranging from softer songs like “Snooze” to a rock-inspired song like “F2F”. There was also great intricacy and uniqueness behind the production of the album. It was overall a very solid and consistent album that was a great listen.
SOS was also named by Billboard in an article to have the “Most Weeks at No.1 on Billboard 200 Among Albums by Women in Seven Years”. With this in mind, it would’ve been more than deserving of being awarded “Album of the Year”.
With Midnight taking “Album of the Year”, the Grammys comes off as more of a fan service or People’s Choice type of award show.
This is especially seen with the cult-like following Taylor has who will back up anything the pop star releases. Considering the massive media uproar the pop star has managed to garner in terms of her relationship with Travis Kelsey, attending the Super Bowl, and the Eras tour movie, one must wonder if this played a role in her Grammy wins.
As a result, we see mediocrity being awarded and more quality albums and more subjectively talented artists being put on the sidelines.
This particular win was an even bigger blow as despite Taylor making history through her 4th “Album of the Year” win, it could’ve also been an opportunity for SZA to make history with her becoming the first Black woman to win “Album of the Year” in 25 years.
Therefore it seems like a no-brainer for SOS to have won “Album of the Year” over Midnights
Written by Janelle Herrera, Opinion’s Editor