By Angely Peña and Anthony Vidal
The 63rd annual Grammys commence tonight, being the epitome of finally making it in the music industry. This past year has seen the rise of many new artists and the improvement of past icons.
However, this year more than ever, diversity emerged in prominence. Those watching live not only resonate with the performances but also associate the awarded Grammys with satisfaction.
Music is a universal language — a means of connecting everyone across the globe. It has the power to travel long distances and cross borders. From Da Baby to Bad Bunny to BTS, diversity is prominent in this year’s performances, as it should be.
The Harbinger will entail live coverage here and on Twitter as the event moves forward. Stay tuned.
Record of the Year
The last award of the show has been decided. Billie Eilish has won Record of the Year for her track, ‘Everything I Wanted.’
“You deserve this, you had a year that was un-toppable…this award goes for her. Can we cheer for Megan Thee Stallion,” Humbly addressed Billie in her speech.
Soon after, the young and powerful artist dedicated her words toward appreciating Megan Thee Stallion.
As the show come to an adjourn, one cannot deny the Grammy’s colorful performances this year. These awards demonstrated that music truly holds no language nor any barriers. With this, we await the next years nominees of the legendary Grammy celebration.
BTS Takes the Stage
K-pop sensation and idol group, BTS, takes the stage as the first Korean act that was nominated for a Grammy, making history with their incredible performance of the beloved song, ‘Dynamite’ from their album B.E.
Tonight, they set the stage alight with their funk and soul, granting ARMYs and the Grammys an unforgettable performance.
Unfortunately, BTS could not make it to LA for the Grammys. They had instead replicated the stage in Korea.
Although this year was tough, they definitely had the world “shining through the city with a little funk and soul.”
Album of the Year: Taylor Swift’s Folklore
The nominees were: Jhené Aiko, Black Puma, Coldplay, Jacob Collier, Haim, Dua Lipa, Post Malone, and Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift wins Album of the Year with her surprise album ‘folklore.’ While the album was a surprise, the Grammy wasn’t.
Taylor’s poetic piece was a signal for growth. She did this album to show that she is going to write music as she likes it and that her music won’t be made with the purpose of making money.
Fan support had skyrocketed for Taylor Swift since the album dropped. The fans, or as they call themselves, “Swifties,” voted folklore for Album of the Year.
“But mostly we just want to thank the fans, you guys met us in this imaginary world we created and we’ll be forever grateful for this… thank you so much,” affirmed Taylor Swift.
Dojo Cat Hits the Stage
The singer and rapper was nominated for three awards this year. Performing “Say So,” Doja hits the stage as a robot, kremlin, in addition to the choreography featured in her official music video.
She appeared in a blue-laser theme surrounding aliens descending from another planet. On top of covid-safe helmets and face shields, the artist and her dancers came to the stage with precision and ended the performance with power.
Beyoncé Makes History
One woman is taking it all home, ironically, in the same month dedicated to women’s achievements. With the ‘Best Rap Song’ label, Grammy history has been made. Beyoncé just tied for 27 Grammys, the most awards anyone has ever won in this event.
“I wanted to encourage and uplift the beautiful black queens,” she stated.
Best R&B Performances
Nominees were as follows: Jhene Aiko ft John Legend, Beyonce, Brittany Howard, Emily King, and Jacob Collier ft. Mahalia & Ty Dolla $ign.
Best Pop Vocal Album
This year’s nominees for ‘Best Pop Vocal Album’ were the following: Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift.
‘Future Nostalgia’ takes a win for this category. As of this year, Dua Lipa has become a promising artist with a respectable repertoire of hits and great discography.
Post Malone
“I express myself best through music.”
Post Malone took the stage to perform ‘Hollywood is Bleeding,’ with what seems to be a gospel intro. His performance is one of the several stages tonight that has taken part in adding religious references or undertones.
Best Rap Song
The best Rap Song award goes to Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé with the song ‘Savage.’
“Since I was little I said: ‘Imma grow up and Imma be like Beyoncé,’” said Megan.
“Music really helped us get through the pandemic…thank you Huston we did it,” she continued.
Cardi Comes to Stage
Cardi B enters stage with an iconic performance of her single ‘Up,’ giving an awesome choreo alongside her dancers.
With a throwback to her old career, Cardi pole dances while performing the song ‘WAP’ — a tune that quickly became popular on TikTok.
Their scene featured big stages and Brazillian funk beats, granting a new rendition to the song everyone has heard at least once.
With impressive lighting and background effects, the dancers were on point, and the stage appeared like a very well produced music video with a high budget.
Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé
“It’s easy for me to uplift women because women always uplifted me,” stated the Grammy Nominee Megan Thee Stallion.
“Even if you feel like quitting don’t quit because it is possible to achieve all your dreams,” she continued.
Strutting the stage of the Grammys, Megan exudes confidence as she performs the song many people have come to know and love — ‘Savage,’ featuring the vocals of Beyoncé, the queen of pop.
Her chore features highlights from Beyonce’s iconic signature moves that many know her for. The song also includes instrumentals that sound similar to Beyoncé’s past songs.
However, many were confused to see Megan performing at the Grammys without Beyonce beside her. Nonetheless, her performance was iconic and one to remember.
Song of the Year
H.E.R’s music apart from being from the soul and impactful spread messages of truth and spoke for the difficulties that many were going through. With her speech, she reminds others to keep their fight and show the same energy they showed in the summer of 2020.
“All the nominees were song of the year to me. I didn’t imagine that my pain and fear would turn into impact and possibly turn into change,” she commented.
Best Latin Pop or Urban Album
Bad Bunny was awarded with this prize for the album “YHLQMDLG.”
“Es muy especial.. Que me den un premio por hacer lo que amo. [It’s very special that they give me a prize for doing what I love],” he said.
Country Singers Performing Tonight
Tonight, country singers pay homage to women on Women’s History Month:
Mickey Guyton — the first black female solo artist ever nominated in a country category — with her song Black Like Me. Miranda Lambert took the stage soon after. And lastly, Maren Morris.
Commemoration of Artists That Have Passed Away Over the Year
Artists certainly do a lot — they inspire and move us and bring light to the dark times that many can face. This year, there have been many souls lost, so there is a need to commemorate those that had a withstanding impact on our lives.
Silk Sonic takes the stage (again) to commemorate the beautiful and iconic music of those that have been lost this year.
This is to bring light to all those who created music that impacted our lives in great ways — such talent can’t go unrecognized.
And, of course, Bruno Mars set the stage on fire with amazing vocals and range along with Anderson Paak’s skillful Delivery on the drums.
Lionel Richie also takes the stage to honor the late Kenny Rogers immersing the audience with an emotional performance.
“I miss you Kenny,” he said.
Best Pop Solo Performance
The nominees for ‘Best Pop Solo Performance’ were: Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, and Taylor Swift.
Harry Styles took the award home for their song ‘Watermelon Sugar’ which was a sensation on Tik Tok and remixed into different sounds on the app. A song as iconic as this definitely deserved the award seeing as it shaped ‘quarantine life’ for many.
“I feel honored to be here among all of you so thank you so much,” he said.
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift performs songs from both her surprise albums folklore and evermore. She continues with the vibe of simplicity and country life by performing on what appears to be a hut in the forest. Of course, her performance was amazing, with beautiful vocals, and perfect song choice, but that doesn’t need to be said.
Silk Sonic
Silk sonic is marking their debut stage on the Grammys leaving others satisfied with their performance. Their song featured many inspirations from old artists offering a powerful track with soothing vocals which aren’t a surprise coming from Bruno Mars.
The buildup and slowdowns featured by the immaculate instrumentals soothe the heart.
This performance is one that will go in the books and definitely a contender for Grammys in 2022.
