This Is Not the Year to Complain About the Grammys
For music critics, complaining about the annual Grammy nominations is as much a December tradition as menorahs and mistletoe. I myself have never been immune, and kvetching about “Music’s Biggest Night” has become so tired that last year Slate’s Carl Wilson was forced to mix things up by putting his grievances into verse. The closest thing to a serious snub is probably the exclusion of D’Angelo’s Black Messiah, the most acclaimed album of last year, which wasn’t eligible until this one. Other pleasant surprises: Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright”—anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement and all around one of the best jams of 2015—somehow managed to dance and protest its way into Song of the Year. Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s Furious Seven anthem “See You Again” could win Song of the Year, Ed Sheeran’s relatively snoozey “Thinking Out Loud” could win Record of the Year, and the Shakes’ Sound & Color, like Beck’s similarly backward-looking Morning Phase last year, could run off with Album of the Year.
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