Hey, Grammy: What's going on?

Can it be? This year's Grammy nominations seem eerily on target, almost as if the committee is tuned into what's actually happening in pop music.

By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 24, 2002

Chat with Gina Pop music critic Gina Vivinetto will host a Times Chat on Tuesday to talk about Wednesday's Grammy Awards. Ask her what she thinks; tell her what you think. Log on at Times Chat for the 7 p.m. chat. If you cannot attend this live event, you can submit a question in advance by going to the main chat page. Gina Vivinetto's Grammy picks

I was sad when I heard this year's Grammy nominations.

Sad because for the first time nothing about the nominations made me laugh out loud. Sure, there was a snicker here, a raised eyebrow there, but no really good belly laughs.

Pop music critics relish nothing more each year than making fun of the Grammys. I only wish I'd had this job the year the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences awarded classic rock act Jethro Tull -- they of the faerie-esque lead singer with the flute -- the Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal category. Tull beat Metallica.

Go ahead, guffaw. I did.

Every year the NARAS commits atrocities in the name of pop music. The Grammys have been so out of step with what's good or what's fresh for so long that very few music freaks I know take the award seriously.

But in recent years, that has begun to change. Last year there were several lapses -- say, for instance, not giving Macy Gray the Best New Artist award for her amazing debut, and instead bestowing it on country singer Shelby Lynne, who had already released something like 617 albums. But the Grammys seemed to be getting it together.

Recall that rapper Eminem's prickly The Marshall Mathers LP was nominated for best album. In typical fashion, Grammy did not give that groundbreaker -- and it was a groundbreaker no matter how much we bristled at its misogyny and violence -- the prize. Grammy instead honored Steely Dan's tepid Two Against Nature. However, the NARAS cats began paying attention to rap and hip-hop, a genre for which they had such little respect, they never even bothered to televise that portion of the ceremony until recently.

How can you deny that hip-hop, like it or not, is today's pop music? How can you host an awards show and not give props to rap? This year the Grammys continue catching up with what's current, with what sounds good, and -- could it be? -- they're even pointing our eyes -- and ears -- to the future, noticing developing trends right now, as they happen.

R&B

The 44th Annual Grammy Award nominations highlight a trend in pop that delights me: the return of good, old-fashioned R&B music.

[Photo: J Records] Eight Grammy nominations for Alicia Keys’ Songs in A Minor demonstrate the awards committee’s revived interest in good, old-fashioned R&B music.

I'm talking about Alicia Keys, who received six nominations for her superb debut Songs In A Minor. The album is rich in organic music, with real instruments, not the blippity blip synth "soul" that has populated airwaves for more than a decade.

At Keys' recent sold-out performance at the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando, I was thrilled to see more than 2,500 fans swaying, bumping and grinding to Keys' intensely personal, intensely sultry tunes.

At 21, classically trained Keys is a major talent. She began her live set with a bit of Beethoven on her keyboard. From there she dished out almost two hours of old-school soul, tickling her piano, crooning like a lovelorn woman and belting out saucy love jams.

Songs In A Minor is not a merely a throwback. Keys owes much to the R&B greats before her: Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack (who recently interviewed Keys for Essence). Keys has said her life was changed at 13 when she heard Gaye's What's Going On.

Any other 21-year-old artists out there who can say the same?

[AP photo] Singer India.Arie had plenty to smile about during the 44th annual Grammy Awards nominations on Jan. 4: seven nominations.

The show at the Hard Rock proved Keys isn't a fluke. In fact, her live performance was more compelling than the album.

Also big on the nominations: R&B rookie India.Arie. Her debut, Acoustic Soul, didn't blow my mind the way Keys' album did, but it sure sounds refreshing in the glut of FM fake synth soul and backward-baseball-cap rap rock. Arie received an astounding seven nominations. (Grammy twist: Arie, not Keys, was nominated for Album of The Year.)

These two neo-soul artists are indicative of a trend that includes their contemporaries D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, Angie Stone, Macy Gray and Jill Scott. Gray and Scott were nominated for best new artist last year but failed to win the prize. (Some speculate that Keys is racking up fans and Grammy nominations more easily because she looks like a supermodel and Gray and Scott do not. At the Hard Rock, it wasn't tough to spot the many young women in the audience emulating Keys' look: cornrows, sleek body suits, floppy hats, fedoras.)

At any rate, the major attention paid to Keys and Arie may be a sign that in the future we can expect less bling bling and more artists who can really sing sing.

Hip-hop

[Publicity photo] Dre and Big Boi of the hip-hop group Outkast. The band deserves the acclaim it gets for its innovative sounds.

I'm also happy to see the Grammys continuing to recognize the talent of hip-hop innovators such as OutKast. The Atlanta duo should have dozens of little Grammy statues tossed at their feet just for their sheer sonic creativity -- 2000's Stankonia, nominated in several rap and pop categories, is a musical and lyrical masterpiece.

I'm a sucker for OutKast's frank, socially conscious lyrics. OutKast's moving Ms. Jackson single is nominated not just in rap categories, but also for regular ol' Record of The Year. As it should be. It's hands down the most compelling, insightful, honest single I've heard on the radio in years.

New artist

Yay to NARAS for selecting three interesting artists who are both "new" and among the "best" in pop today: Alicia Keys, India.Arie and Nelly Furtado, whose debut Whoa, Nelly! made a whole bunch of critics squeal -- although apparently I'm missing something.

Songwriter David Gray is this year's Shelby Lynne. Gray's first album Century Ends came out in 1993. Since then he has released several albums. Does this qualify as a new artist? Put it this way, when Century Ends came out, Alicia Keys was just 9 years old.

As for nominating Linkin Park, well, this SoCal band serves a purpose with its zesty hybrid of metal and DJ-scratchin' old school hip-hop. I'm not sure I'd nominate Linkin Park for a Grammy, though. I'm also not sure the punky band would give a hoot either way. Still, it was a daring move for NARAS. It's in touch with the current scene, singling out an act making waves right now.

Dance

Last year the Grammys awarded the Baha Man the best dance record award for the dreadful Who Let The Dogs Out, an especially egregious move since the one-hit wonders beat electronica pioneer Moby. (Secretly, weren't we all shocked the Grammy folks even knew who Moby was?)

[Photo: Reprise Records] The awards committee garners an approving nod for including nominations for Depeche Mode among mainstays in the dance and electronica category.

This year, happily, NARAS did a stellar job in what is admittedly a tricky category. Dance and electronica is certainly not on everyone's radar and artists who are esteemed in the genre aren't exactly household names. So, give props to NARAS for nominating the likes of Daft Punk and Depeche Mode, along with mainstays Janet Jackson and Gloria Estefan.

One quibble: Can someone explain why the heck Lionel Ritchie's Angel is a contender? Can I see a show of hands from any DJs who played this poor man's version of Cher's Believe?

Don't think I'm mean. A perplexed Ritchie himself asked Billboard, "How did this happen?"

Country

In a genre that encompasses bluegrass, Americana, Western swing, and regular ol' twangy stuff, the Grammys did a pretty good job singling out good country music.

[AP photo] In the country category, singers like Dolly Parton, despite fewer record sales, were not ignored in favor of the current hot darlings of Nashville.

Of course, "good" doesn't necessarily translate to "popular" in today's Nashville.

I think it was brave and righteous for NARAS to nominate luminaries who don't sell so well, such as Dolly Parton, Lyle Lovett, Johnny Cash, EmmyLou Harris and Willie Nelson, along with the folks who enjoy massive airplay and sales -- like Tim McGraw and Trisha Yearwood.

Some have been wrinkling their noses at nominations for pop singer Sheryl Crow and alt-country artist Ryan Adams, who is becoming quite the pop star.

But, I ask you, do these guys sound any less country than twangless Shania Twain? Faith Hill?

This year I'll tune in to the Grammys with a new attitude. I won't be waiting to scream at the TV, or throw my popcorn at an onscreen presenter, my friends and I laughing uproariously.

This year I'll actually be listening closely to the presenters as they read the winner's names on those little cards.

I still don't care much about the Grammys. It makes no difference to me who wins or loses. But, I admit, those Grammy folks have my attention now. This time for the right reasons.

- St. Petersburg Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report.

To reach Gina Vivinetto, e-mail gina@sptimes.com.

At a glance

The 44th Grammy Awards, hosted by Jon Stewart, will air at 8 p.m. Wednesday on CBS-Ch. 10.

Chat with Vivinetto

Pop music critic Gina Vivinetto will host a St. Petersburg Times online chat at 7 p.m. Tuesday to talk about Wednesday's Grammy Awards. Log on to www.tampabay.com.

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