FEATURE:
The Digital Mixtape
IN THIS PHOTO: Beyoncé
GRAMMY Nominees 2023
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EVERY music award ceremony…
IN THIS PHOTO: Harry Styles/PHOTO CREDIT: Helene Marie Pambrun
creates some sort of controversy or division. People arguing names that are not including and debating those that are. The GRAMMYs are no exception. Taking place tomorrow (5th February), it could be a big night for Beyoncé. I am going to include parts of an article from The Guardian. They also made their predictions when it comes to the big categories. With so many categories to get through, it will definitely be a long night! That said, it is an award show that spreads across genres and fields so that it recognises a wide range of people in the recording industry. I will end with a playlist featuring some of the artists who have been nominated this year. First, The Guardian wrote about some of the performances and logistics of the GRAMMYs. It will be a big night tomorrow:
“It’s days before the curtain rises on the 65th annual Grammy awards ceremony and producer Ben Winston is putting the finishing touches on the production.
“I was doing the table plans last night, which is always a funny thing,” Winston said during a brief respite in between his obligations at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. “It’s like a bar mitzvah or a wedding, only you’re plotting where people like Beyoncé, Adele and the Rock are going to sit. Who’s Cardi B gonna be next to? It’s really fun.”
Because of myriad logistical considerations, Winston, the mastermind of the production alongside producing partner Raj Kapoor, calls it one of the hardest shows in television to put together.
IN THIS PHOTO: Lizzo/PHOTO CREDIT: AB+DM
“You’ve got 19 performers or so – and all of them are A-list with dancers, choirs, orchestras – and then how to work out how to build Harry Styles’s set in three minutes, which then has to clear the way for Lizzo’s set,” he said.
According to Winston, work doesn’t begin until after the nominations are released in November, which is when artists begin to commit. This year, all eyes are on Beyoncé as she could become the most awarded artist in Grammy history with nine nominations this year, with Kendrick Lamar, Adele and Brandi Carlile all competing in multiple categories.
“From the day the nominations are announced, that gives us eight weeks to put this together,” says Winston, adding with a laugh: “A school play wouldn’t even be made in eight weeks.”
This year’s performers reflect the strong commercial slate of nominees after a year of blockbuster records, major comebacks and sold-out tours. Styles is slated to sing his song As It Was, the longest-running No 1 song by a UK act in the history of the US charts, and the fourth-longest in general. Bad Bunny, the world’s most streamed artist whose Un Verano Sin Ti became the first Spanish-language album of the year nominee, is also set to take the stage. Joining them include the likes of Mary J Blige, Sam Smith and Brandi Carlile.
Tributes include Kacey Musgraves honoring the late Loretta Lynn, while the rapper Quavo will take part in a performance for his late Migos counterpart Takeoff as well. There will also be a salute to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, curated by LL Cool J and featuring a who’s who of the genre’s brightest stars and innovators, among them Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi and DJ Jazzy Jeff”.
To mark the GRAMMYs tomorrow, below is a playlist featuring songs from many of the artists nominated. You can see who is nominated in each category and make your own predictions. Whatever your tastes and predictions, it is likely to be a big (and potentially historic) occasion. It is a night where we celebrate…
SOME phenomenal music.