—
What They Got Right:
Opening the show with a literal bang, Lemar Kendrick’s devastating callback to Trayvon Martin showcased a stage full of dancers in red hoodies who dropped one by one to the sound of a gunshot.
But the conversation didn’t stop there, and there are too many to showcase before I get to the overarching problem of the night, so I’ll focus on the two that packed the biggest wallop.
Ke$ha’s performance of her new hit, ‘Praying’, her first since breaking away from her former producer, Dr. Luke, who she sued for sexual abuse, was powerful and emotional, and packed with not only Ke$ha’s vocals, but backed by those of Cyndi Lauper, Andra Day, Camila Cabelo, and Julia Michaels as well as a large group of women dressed all in white.
It was visually and aurally stunning, and it was a powerful statement of belief in the faces of industry greats who did not believe her. Anyone who watched the performance and all the angst in it had no choice but to one hundred percent support Ke$ha in that #MeToo moment.
Not to top the moment, but to preface it, Janelle Monae introduced the song with references to both the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements: “Tonight, I am proud to stand in solidarity as not just an artist, but a young woman with my fellow sisters in this room who make up the music industry: artists, writers, assistants, publicists, CEOs, producers, engineers and women from all sectors of the business,”
Monae said. “We are also daughters, wives, mothers, sisters and human beings. We come in peace, but we mean business. And to those who would dare try and silence us, we offer you two words: Time’s up.”
The greatest moment of the night for me was not U2’s barge performance in front of the Statue of Liberty, but Logic’s incredible 1-800-273-8255 (If you don’t know it, that’s the Suicide Prevention Hotline) featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid.
Not only did Logic fill the stage with survivors of suicide attempts (wearing T-shirts that had the Suicide Prevention Hotline on them along with the words, “You Are Not Alone”), but he finished his set with an incredibly powerful message of equality and acceptance:
“Black is beautiful, hate is ugly. Women are as precious as they are stronger than any man I have ever met. And unto them, I say stand tall and crush all predators under the weight of your heart that is full of the love they will never take away from you. Be not scared to use your voice! Especially in instances like these when you have the opportunity! Stand and fight for those who are not weak, but have yet to discover the strength that the evil of this world has done its best to conceal. To all the beautiful countries filled with culture, diversity and thousands of years of history: You are beautiful.
And lastly, on behalf of those who fight for equality in a world that is not equal, not just and not ready for the change we are here to bring: I say unto you, bring us your tired, your poor, and any immigrant who seeks refuge. For together we can build not just a better country, but a world that is destined to be united.”
With such potent and poignant messages, the Grammys should have been a triumph for equality movements and a testament to a new day in the entertainment industry. And if we only had to count performances and comedy shticks (Hillary Clinton’s and Cher’s cameos as readers trying out for the audiobook version of Fire and Fury, a controversial expose of President Trump, were particularly on point) they would have been. But in the midst of an otherwise amazing show were the actual awards, which showed that the patriarchy, for all its cracks from the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, is still a wall we haven’t broken down.
It’s music. And you can certainly say that music is subjective, and if you ask ten different people, you’ll get ten different opinions. But in a category with P!nk, Ke$ha, Kelly Clarkson, and Lady Gaga, even Ed Sheeran (who didn’t show up for the big night) didn’t believe he was going to win.
Ke$ha’s song, ‘Praying’, as previously mentioned, was a rousing, poignant comeback anthem. Lady Gaga’s ‘Million Reasons’ highlights a woman going through the crisis of faith as the reasons to leave her lover pile up, but she desperately wants to stay. Likewise, P!nk’s ‘What About Us’ delves into relationship woes.
And then you have “The Shape of You,” Sheeran’s ode to the body of a woman he met in a bar. Not only does it lack the emotional depth, but the vocals are nowhere near the caliber of the other nominees. Even Kelly Clarkson’s, “Love So Soft,” while it doesn’t pack the emotional punch of the other nominees’ songs, highlights a vocal range that puts Sheeran’s to shame.
And that’s not even the most disappointing moment of the night. When lyrics like Bruno Mars’ ‘Hey, hey, hey
I got a condo in Manhattan/
Baby girl, what’s hatnin’?/
You and your ass invited’ win out over ‘I apologize for all the stillborns cause I wasn’t present/Your body wouldn’t accept it,’ one has to wonder how far we actually have not come. One song objectifies a woman’s body, and the other explores the emotional and physical scars that a man can cause a woman as well as the dangers of toxic masculinity.
In addition, Album of the Year again went to Bruno, who, sure, has catchy pop tunes—that he relies on women’s bodies to promote; but Jay-Z’s 4:44, not only a response to his wife Beyoncé’s Lemonade album, the rumors of his infidelity, and the fallout from that, but also the shift from “Jay-Z” to Shawn Carter, should have been a logical and visceral win for any Grammys that truly espoused #TimesUp and #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter.
It was a powerful night for women to be heard, and for black lives to matter—and the fact that Bruno Mars, Dave Chappelle, Alessia Cara, Kendrick Lamar, and Lin-Manuel Miranda were all winners is a big step forward in the world of the Grammys. But until the men who win stop relying on women’s bodies to do that, we still have a long way to go. #TimesUp.
art credit- listed /GRAMMYS
The role of men is changing in the 21st century. Want to keep up?
Get the best stories from The Good Men Project delivered straight to your inbox, here.