Beck vs. Beyonce: Why the Grammy’s Don’t Matter

Music.

Music is an art form. Pieces that can make us have feelings we never thought we could. Pieces that make an entire subculture work as a whole, pieces that make a statement, pieces that start a fire, pieces that make us us. I’ve been on this site for less than a year, but I’ve had my say about albums and songs and music in the past. Starting in 2009, I made it a mission to get into different types of music by any means and I’ve heard gems that still remain in my head, and feel the same things that I have felt since the first time I’ve listened to them. “Sleep Apnea” by Beach Fossils makes me think of summer at a rocky shore, “We’re All Thieves” by Circa Survive still makes me think of my ex and makes me weep. “Permanent” by Acceptance, something that I just thought would be a one-off in 2005 that came with my PSP, still makes my father and I embrace each other and shout together because that’s the song I promised I would play at his funeral. This is what music does to me. This is what music has done to all of us in one way or another. And this is why I’ve begun to disconnect from the meaning of the Grammy’s.

About 2 years ago, coming back home from a shift at The Coffee Machine, I decided with my newfound powers of social media that I could publish my 140-character thoughts out to the world and ask for opinions on what was going on in music. I live-tweeted the Grammy’s, thinking that it would be fun to do, and it was. Seeing the performers and getting riled up over the anticipation of who would win was to become a staple at the family compound. But as the next year rolled in, and I had more album reviews and production methods and musical know-how under my belt, I wasn’t as excited. In fact, I was more judgmental about the choices that were made and the backlash on social media became appalling. Last year, the fiasco with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis winning the award for Best Hip-Hop/Rap Album put everyone on edge, and I could see why, but I was also someone with a very unpopular opinion. I looked at what people were mad at, and making the effort to inform them became a shouting match of almost racial and societal proportions. Needless to say, I felt alone and distant. I didn’t know what I was missing out on, some fact that got lost out into the ether maybe? But the more I really analyzed the situation of music, it was apparent that something was wrong.

Now we come full circle here, The 57th Annual Grammy Awards. I wasn’t looking forward to it, I didn’t look up the nominations, I barely looked at who was performing. The gusto that was around 2 years ago disappeared into the same ether as that point I was looking for to justify the hate on Macklemore. Nothing excited me this year as much as the independent releases and surprising gems that I found scattered across the internet, none of which were nominated. But the meat of the offense was the surprising win of Beck’s Morning Phase over Beyonce’s self-titled album.

There were faces of disbelief and rants that went off all over social media, racially charged against the choice made by the Grammy Academy to choose Beck’s folk album over Beyonce’s R&B album. Notable artists like Kanye West stated that he should “give the award back” because he didn’t deserve it. Earlier this morning, Beck stated that “he thought Beyonce was going to win, cmon, she’s Beyonce!”. Words were slung through the web about how this was disrespectful to music in general because their favorite artist, their Queen B, didn’t win. There were people on Beck’s side that went against Kanye saying that he should respect the multi-instrumentalist who was around before he was even in the music industry. Throughout everything, should this be the way that music should be viewed now?

Should Beyonce have won that Grammy? In Grammy standards and in feats of musical prowess, yes. She released an album without anyone knowing about it and selling (yes, sales) enough digital copies to be an iTunes Chart Topper for what felt like an eternity. Going the extra mile and actually filming and producing a music video for each and every song on the album is beyond phenomenal. Beck’s album was a very well crafted folk album that I would think is better to talk about the technical side of music rather than in terms of sales and popularity. They are both talented musicians on both ends of the spectrum and deserve the respect of the musical community. Does the Grammy win matter? No.

Music should not be weighed by a gold-painted gramophone paperweight for approval.