Related News
Swift, Lamar steal the show at Grammy
Print Edition
TAYLOR Swift has made history as the first woman to win the top Grammy twice, but rapper Kendrick Lamar took home five awards and delivered an electrifying, politically charged performance that rocked the gala.
The top prizes on the music industry’s biggest night mainly went to mainstream chart-toppers, with Swift taking the Album of the Year prize for “1989” and the retro party anthem “Uptown Funk” winning Record of the Year.
Swift, who has transformed from country prodigy to pop superstar, won three prizes on the night, all for work off “1989,” which was one of the best-selling US albums of the past decade.
The 26-year-old, who has fashioned herself as a feminist campaigner, spoke to her legions of girl fans as she accepted her second Album of the Year award.
“I want to say to all the young women out there — there are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame,” Swift said.
“But if you just focus on the work and you don’t let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you are going, you will look around, and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there,” she said.
In 2010, Swift also accomplished a major feat when she won Album of the Year for “Fearless,” becoming the youngest artist to take the prize as she recorded it when she was 20.
Swift has also created waves in the music industry by becoming the pre-eminent foe of Spotify, the leading streaming service, which she charges is unfair by allowing a free tier. The Recording Academy, which runs the Grammys, used the broadcast to urge better compensation for artists, while stopping short of criticizing any company in the fast-growing streaming industry.
While Swift won the top award, the most Grammys went to Lamar, whose album “To Pimp a Butterfly” offered an innovative meditation on race relations with infusions of jazz and spoken word.
Lamar, whose song “Alright” has become an unofficial anthem for protesters against police abuse, took five awards out of 11 nominations — the most nods for a single artist in one night since Michael Jackson earned 12 following his massive “Thriller.”
In a politically charged yet genre-spanning appearance, Lamar shuffled onto stage as part of a chain-gang as a jazz saxophone merged with a heavy guitar on “The Blacker the Berry.”
As his performance transitioned to “Alright,” Lamar — his face painted with a bruise — metaphorically walked back to his African roots in a performance with rhythmic dancers in traditional garb before a firepit. “This is for hip-hop,” the 28-year-old Lamar said, receiving the award from gangsta rap legend Ice Cube.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
