If you didn't watch the Grammy Awards this year, don't worry, because you didn't miss much. What you did miss was another award show that looks and feels like yet another glorified circle-jerk for the tried and popular. The thing that upsets me the most, is the complete lack of effort on the nominee selection process. In case you didn't know, the nominees are chosen by the collective effort of one-hundred and fifty people who are described as "leading experts in the industry".
If you ask me, these guys aren't trying hard enough. Throwing up "Coldplay" and "Kings of Leon" in the rock category is not only bad joke, it's an insult to the genre. Either these experts were given a list of names to choose from, or they Googled "popular bands of 2011" and pinned the tail on the donkey five or six times per award. If you don't believe me, here's a list of band that oozed with talent last year, who were utterly left out of last night's ceremony:
-Evanescence (Rock)
-Ha Ha Tonka (Rock)
-Common (Hip Hop)
-Protest The Hero (Rock)
-Talib Kweli (Hip Hop)
-The Roots (Hip Hop)
-Florence + The Machine (Pop)
-Thrice (Rock)
Granted, I personally enjoy listening to most of this list, but you have to at least give credit to positive reviews and exploding fan bases. I would argue that "Undun", The Roots' newest album, is the best they've recorded thus far (and I wouldn't be the only one), and they didn't even get a nomination.
If the "leading experts" and going to allow good talent to remain in the shadows, then a twenty-something from Illinois will at least try to light a candle. Stay tuned, people, and start getting outside of your boxes and digging for music.
