We live in a world of attention, ego, and me, me, me. Call it narcissism. Call it up your butt. Call it being a media whore. It can also be called the Entertainment Factor. The Entertainment Factor is the ability to have an outsized role in society simply by being famous (see the Gabor sisters).
Nowadays, the road to fame is more democratized, allowing anyone to use free media on their phones to create a spectacle or controversy, forcing the public to pay attention. This, as we know, is called engagement. The more eyeballs you have watching you, the more power you have in society. If the collective gaze is trained on you, you have the power of influence. Hollywood, the music industry, and well, the entire entertainment industry have used the power of the spectacle to attract attention and make money through films, television shows, radio programs, and music for decades. And then every year, that industry takes a night to celebrate itself for its achievements – inviting the public to watch.
There’s a bit of a problem with this model — the pre-social media one, that is – and that is we’ve been living with a democratized Entertainment Factor for so long that when the entertainment industry does entice us to gaze upon them during awards season, it can feel like a ho-hum affair.
That was somewhat the case with the 67th GRAMMY Awards on February 2nd. “Music’s biggest night” (as a TV commercial might say) was in a tough position. The wildfires that scorched parts of the Los Angeles region left behind immense property – the likes of which haven’t been seen in a mighty long time. How would the GRAMMY Awards balance spectacle with compassion for fire victims in a single show? Also, given that we’re in an era of musical silos, how would the show reach a broad audience when mass-appeal music is so fractured? And would host Trevor Noah be funny?
By and large, the GRAMMY Award succeeded in its ability to use the Entertainment Factor to showcase a predictable stable of stars and raise money for the victims of the fires. Very little was surprising about the award winners and the nominees for the most popular categories. There were plenty of shots of Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Billie Elish, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and if you watched the red carpet pre-show, too much of Kanye West instructing his wife Bianca Censori to start “making a scene now” by ditching her coat and revealing her nude body with a see-through fabric around her waist.
So, there was plenty to feast one’s eyes on. The show itself had a few dud moments, but overall, the performances were solid.
The Duds:
- The Weeknd, who ended his GRAMMYs boycott but performed in the shadows with a hoodie on. So…is the boycott over or not?
- Billie Eilish, who seemed awkward on camera. The song was fine—it was intended to honor L.A.—but the performance felt phoned in.
- Janelle Monáe, would have won a Halloween karaoke contest with her Michael Jackson tribute, but for the GRAMMYs, it felt schmaltzy and overblown. Plus, she seemed out of sync with the guide track.
- The biggest dud: Will Smith’s PR-fueled rehabilitation performance, attempting to resurrect the likable Will Smith of days gone by. I’m not sure the public has forgotten how he went from laughing at Chris Rock’s jokes at the 2022 Oscars to slapping the host for making a joke about his wife.
I can only imagine most folks at the after-parties hadn’t forgotten. If Mr. Slap approached them, I imagine a lot of “Hi, sorry, gotta run to the bathroom” excuses were made. Thank goodness Cynthia Erivo, Herbie Hancock, and Stevie Wonder were the saving graces of the Quincy Jones tribute. Will Smith’s story about Quincy was self-serving and downright odd. He might want to consider keeping a lower profile from here on out.
The Standouts:
My favorite performances of the night were Doechii, Chappell Roan, RAYE, and Charli XCX. Hell, even Sabrina Carpenter was a surprise with her comic version of “Espresso.” All of them brought an incredible amount of spectacle to their performances, proving that when done right, spectacle slays. The spectacle didn’t always work, however. Benson Boone tried to bring the sexy with gymnastics flips, but come on…he couldn’t compete with the ladies. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars did a nice job with “California Dreaming,” which begs the question: why don’t these two record an entire album and tour together? Speaking of Gaga (and this should have gone in the dud category), the preview of her new song was a stiff (as in a corpse with rigor mortis). It felt like a retread of her music from 10-15 years ago—an echo of what once made that era of her music great, but now just a faded reflection.
The Rock Question:
Finally, what the hell happened to rock music? Has the genre fallen so out of favor that its awards are relegated to the kids’ table ceremony, and its performances are non-existent? Now, to be frank, the nominees were very safe and geared toward the olds (like me). So, we got The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Pearl Jam, Metallica, Judas Priest, Kim Gordan, Nick Cave, Jack White, Green Day, The Black Crowes, and…man I feel old just writing this list. St. Vincent, Cage The Elephant, Fontaines D.C., and a few other artists round out what I suppose is the state of rock. It’s kind of sad to see these names when compared to the other prime-time artists. That’s not to say so-called rockers released subpar music (except for The Beatles), it’s just that much of what was featured felt like an “Oh yeah, are they still around?” vibe.
Final Thoughts:
So, what does this all say about the state of popular music in 2024/2025? It reflects the ongoing tension between a monoculture (i.e., inclusivity and familiarity) and a fractured culture where micro-genres and long-tail niches dominate.
Kendrick Lamar’s quip—“We are the culture”—wasn’t too far off the mark in foreshadowing a new monoculture, especially considering his Super Bowl halftime performance just weeks later. The reaction to that halftime show from both the old guard and the new was telling.
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