The Self-Congratulatory Limits of the American Music Industry

There is something for everyone, but what does it mean to celebrate a song accusing Drake of being a pedophile … and the best rock album by The Stones?

The prizes for the Grammy Awards (given out Sunday night, Feb. 2) are so numerous that even after scrolling several sites, it’s difficult to know if you’ve spotted them all. Even the Grammy’s platform is confusing, probably seeking to multiply clicks on various incomplete entries.

Regardless, the world will only remember the major winners. Who cares about the liner notes for King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band’s “Centennial” album, written by Ricky Riccardi and awarded the Grammy for best album notes? Among the more familiar names, it’s hard not to mention the Best Rock Album of the Year, a distinction that should delight all the senior citizen “workaholics” disappointed by the lack of attention the world pays them.

Octogenarian’n’Roll

Right under the noses of The Black Crowes, Fontaines D.C., Green Day, Idles, Pearl Jam and Jack White (not all of whom are newcomers), The Rolling Stones wins this equivocal accolade, which could just as easily be seen as a new death certificate for rock ‘n’ roll, a presumption reinforced by the “Best Rock Performance” of the posthumous “Now and Then” by The Beatles. So let’s get back to today’s representatives, artists who could tell us something more pertinent about the state of the contemporary world than a small band of grandpas full of with their own past.

Of course, there is Beyoncé, crowned for her country-ish album “Cowboy Carter.” It is a work which now symbolizes a successful move into a traditionally very white music genre, a musical celebration of the “empowerment, Black lives matter” so dear to the heart of the African American singer.

Drake, Pedophile?

More puzzling, the multiple awards given to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” support this “diss track.” This 2024 track, which continued an increasingly venomous rivalry with Drake, unequivocally accused him of pedophilia. Since then, the conflict between the two men has intensified even further, but the result is no less than five awards: “Best Music Video,” “Best Rap Song,” “Best Rap Performance,” “Record of the Year” and last but not least, “Song of the Year.”

You might as well say that the Grammy Academy’s stamp of approval — some 13,000 voters within the record industry — is a strong endorsement of a defamatory song, even if we won’t comment on the substance of any accusations that have been made. Perhaps this is known as contemporary rap’s overarching nature, unless it’s a whistle-blower’s franchise?