February 9, 2006

Grammy Notes (And Notes And Notes)

Better show than I expected, almost every performance was solid if not spectacular. The only real duds were the Sly tribute and the Christina/Herbie.

Alicia needed to step out of the way and let Stevie sing.

This is the first time I've ever really listened to Coldplay. They sound very, um, miscellaneous.

Next up John Legend, who proves that Stevie Wonder lite is better than U2 lite.

U2 sounds perfectly fine, I suppose... damn, Mary is killing it! When did she learn to stay on key like that??

Aw damn, looks like Kanye is entering is Eddie Murphy Red Leather phase. I guess this was inevitable.

Okay we nodded politely through your new song Paul, now play some damn Beatles. Yes, there you go.

Damn BEP are annoying as hell. STFU and read the names!

Mariah's songs are below her natural range in the verses, she keeps struggling with that lower register.. and the Bone Thugs steez doesn't help matters. But when the chorus comes she knocks it out of the park. Hope she's enjoying this moment, cuz it looks like she's gonna get Color Purpled this year.

Daaave!

Sly. Sigh. My expectations were low, but not low enough. I figured the "tributes" would terrible, and (except for the Patrice Rushen sighting) they were. But I was hoping for nothing more than to finally see the man, who along with Stevie is the foundation of my relationship with music. To see the man, and see that he looked happy and healthy, and felt our love for him. I can't honestly say I saw that.

The whole thing made me sad. It made me cry, actually. I hope his life has a serenity we could not perceive tonight, and that one day someone gives him the tribute he deserves.

Robert Johnson never got one of these till now?

Nothing has ever tickled me more than the sight of Jay-Z exhorting Paul McCartney to "take em uptown." And then he gets his Zubin Mehta on. Well played, sir. But why did Ronald Reagan flash on the screen behind them?

Can't complain about Bruce. Bring em home, indeed.

For all the talk of the Academy getting younger and hipper, seems like pop/rock has-beens are still dominating the big awards. When Green Day won record of the year even Will.I.Am was straight up scowling in his seat, like "this is some bulls**t!"

Jamie and Ye: Brilliant. Once again I say thank god for Kanye West. On a night when every commercial break had the 11 O'clock news screeching about "more hip-hop violence!!!" it was such a relief to see Kanye offering such a different vibe, and a wholly different set of iconography. Setting his own standard for what a rapper can look like and act like.. Showing hip-hop that there are other roads to the top, outside of that thug-life/streets/trap-or-die/realness orthodoxy we've lived under for far too long. It felt as if his performance was directly in response to those news blurbs, laying it out for hip-hop's sons and daughters like "these are your choices: you can keep going down that road, or free your mind and get out here with me." I hope somebody got the message.

Also, as I just said to O-Dub, it's bugged that Kanye can make such an impression with a song that's so trite in its subject matter. Saying so much while the actual words say so little... here's hoping we'll have a long time to watch him keep growing.

Christina's got such a great voice but has never learned to use it with discipline. The visiting jazz scholars (mom and stepdad) were appalled.. "The hell is she doing? She's not even listening to Herbie at all."

The N.O. tribute was as good as you could hope, for that all-star supergroup kinda thing.

So basically, Mariah got shafted, and the less we say about the Sly thing the better. But all told, not a bad show at all. And a good night for hip-hop, with all our representatives performing well and looking like grown folks with some sense in their head. Well, except for Kanye's outfit.

Posted by jsmooth995 at February 9, 2006 3:06 AM

Comments

Thanks for the recap. I am sad to admit, but I ended up missing the show - so this recap was just what I needed and much better than any of the news reports I read thus far. Let's just say it resonated with me.

Posted by: lynne at February 9, 2006 3:14 AM

I don't know how you could even watch ANOTHER award show, never mind take notes. The last thing these clowns need is another pat on the back. give me a break. and don't ride Kanye's jock so hard. Now how are young people supposed to "free your mind and get out here with me"? Kanye makes great Pop records. nothing more. when he stops making hits, he will be irrelevant. c'mon. you should know that.

Posted by: whatever at February 9, 2006 3:45 AM

I figured that Mariah, John or Kanye wasn't getting the major awards, and I'm still miffed. However, this recap was better than the one on Yahoo! this morning.

Posted by: Penny Woods at February 9, 2006 9:37 AM

Christina RUINED that song. If she would let go of her need to American Idol everything all to hell, she might be a good singer. As it was, she shat on Herbie, Donny Hathaway's memory, and the true meaning of the song. She wouldn't know how to sing "a song for you" to save her life--she can only perform for 50,000 people who are sitting at least 100 yards away.

And I have to say I was really disappointed to see Kanye do the same exact version of that song he's been doing for the past six months. The set and costumes were really promising and a marching band arrangement would have been hot. As it was, he confirmed that he's talented but arrogant and doesn't want to work too hard. Except making totally unnecessary costume changes. Good call on the Red Leather phase, btw.

Posted by: sparkle_shortz at February 9, 2006 10:33 AM

what i like about Kanye is that he TRIES to create the big moment. He wants to entertain us. That's also what I don't like about Kanye

Posted by: Hashim at February 9, 2006 10:46 AM

Jay you think an album that is hip hop top to bottom ever gonna take best album at the grammys?

Posted by: Eat My Shorts at February 9, 2006 10:50 AM

>>But why did Ronald Reagan flash on the screen behind them

he mastered Reaganomics

Posted by: eskay at February 9, 2006 11:44 AM

the famu band/drum major style performance that is so familiar to black people but seemingly understood by everyone else only through the lens of drumline was amazing and incredibly entertaining (although someone needs to tell eric bishop that he is not ray charles) but as you say the "triteness" of the material kills it. a legion of black men screaming "we want pre-nup" on stage is uncouthe, base, shallow, embarassing, tragic and a lot other shit i'm incapable of expressing at this moment. "goldigger" like so much contemporary popular music created by black people is disposable.

i like aguilera and i liked her performance. she didn't know how to respond to herbie but the pop machine does not teach or endorse that. she, as pop star, is supposed to go for broke so i wasn't expecting anything else and while it would have been better if she had treated him as a collaborator/duet partner as opposed to an accompanist and cooled out on the oversinging I thought she was excellent.

and lbnl:
"Aw damn, looks like Kanye is entering is Eddie Murphy Red Leather phase."

hilarious!

Posted by: jb at February 9, 2006 11:52 AM

mary stayed on key? WTF!

shorty was mad passionate, but 0 for 50 when it came to hitting the right notes.

Posted by: hardCore at February 9, 2006 12:04 PM

I'm with you on Coldplay. My first time hearing them too, and thought their name was quite appropriate (I was nodding off.)

You forget to mention Kelly Clarkson; I liked her performance, and she beat some big name competition. I also liked the Linkin Park, Jay-Z, Paul McCartney performance, and John Legend (especially when he got his southern Ohio shout out in).

Mariah does struggle with the low notes--I was noticing that too. The Sly and the Family Stone tribute had way too damn many people in it.

I enjoyed the Kanye West performance; it was different, but Gold Digger is simultaneously infectious and so stereotypical. I guess I can relate to the negative feelings.

Posted by: Rachel S at February 9, 2006 1:36 PM

THE HALFTIME SHOW 8 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
W/ DJs ECLIPSE & SKIZZ
PETEY COLOGNE & MARZ ONE
89.1 FM WNYU
WEDNESDAY MARCH 1st, 2006
10:30 PM – 1:00 AM (EST)
www.wnyu.org www.myspace.com/halftime
AIM: WNYUradio
email: halftime@wnyu.org
request line: 212-998-1818

It’s that time of the year again. We’ve got another crazy line up for you this anniversary. Instead of two producers, this year we have three…Jake One, Marco Polo and J-Zone! Guest DJ set will be provided by I.Emerge. And the list of MCs confirmed so far are…

AG & GD
Axe
Big Noyd
Crypt Da Warchild
Diamond D
Ill Bill
Joell Ortiz
Jo Jo Pellegrino
Killah Priest
Little Vic
Lord Tariq
O.C.
Raekwon The Chef
Raze
Reef The Lost Cauze
Sean Price
Special Teamz (Edo. G, Slaine & Jaysaun)
Talib Kweli
Thirstin Howl III
Trife Da God
Vinnie Paz

You can catch us in NYC on 89.1 FM or listen on-line at www.wnyu.org. iTunes users can also listen by going on iTunes, select Radio, select Eclectic and select WNYU. Tons of give-a-ways for this show.

More confirmations to come!

Posted by: DJ MARZ ONE at February 9, 2006 4:55 PM

Gotta disagree about Mary. Horrible pairing. Didn't dig her convulsing. She can belt out a tune, but "One" wasn't the one to go apesh*t on.

Watching Sly was truly sad. Like a public flogging. No wonder he walked out after a few minutes. Poor guy couldn't even lift his head up. Still a legend though.

Posted by: Craig.Smith at February 9, 2006 8:22 PM

Christina sang just fine and mariah carey sucked! nobody can sing 'a song for you' like Donny Hathaway but she sounded just fine

Posted by: bigman at February 9, 2006 8:38 PM

Where can I see the sly footage?

Posted by: i'm the skwidawd at February 9, 2006 9:01 PM

To Marz One: I love the Halftime show, but I'd prefer you send me an email instead of just coming in and posting a whole press release that has nothing to do with the conversation we're having. It kinda comes off like spamming. Normally I would delete that, but i'll let this one go out of respect for Eclipse and the crew.

Posted by: Jay Smooth, Scienz of Life at February 10, 2006 1:42 AM

peace jay.
i gotta say you nailed the rundown bro. took the words right outta my mouth multiple times.

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