the Grammy's: Hip Hop's La La Land

​No truer words express the unattainable expectations that hip-hop has seen with the Grammy's more than the song 'Moonlight' by Jay-Z. The song itself talks about the movie "La La Land" being declared as the winner of "Best Picture" at the 2017 Oscars only to be announced moments later that the movie Moonlight was the actual winner. This is a snub that the culture has seen time and time again from award shows. So is 'the culture' stuck in La La Land? La La Land often refers to a euphoric state and a land of make believe. It's this same mind-set that many people believe Hip-hop artists are stuck in as they have often measured the success of their career and the pennicle of being a Grammy award. But is this truly realistic? 

But throughout the Grammy's history and since Hip-hop's acceptance as a genre. Hip-hop has always gotten the snub in categories that reach outside of the genre itself such as Album of the Year. Which one might've thought would've been a sure win for Hip-hop this year seeing that Hip-hop was the top genre of 2017 in sales and streams. But as hip-hop has seen. not every fairy-tale has a happy ending. This year Bruno Mar's album "24K Magic" took home the coveted "Album of the Year". When most would've thought Kendrick Lamar's "Damn". or Jay-Z's "4:44" would've been the two clear winners. But the Grammy's told Hip-hop "SIT DOW!, BE HUMBLE"! Even more than that is the fact that most Rap awards are not even televised. Artists like Drake and Kanye have cited this multiple times throughout there careers. As of which Drake's "More Life" project was not even submitted for Grammy consideration, citing the fact that his music is not only Rap but multiple genre's. Which he is correct. I wouldn't exactly call his song "Hotline Bling" a Rap song considering it's harmony and melodic feel is more R&B than Hip-hop. But still took home "Best Rap Song of the Year during the 2017 Grammy's. True Story.

So maybe it's true when it comes to the Grammy's "We're stuck in La La Land". The fact is that the Grammy's aren't for Hip-hop. "Even when we win, we gon' lose." The fact is that people go to the Grammy's to be seen on TV. If you win an award off air what's the point? You midest well have stayed home and let them mail it to you. But let's not be so down about it. Some people did win right?

​Here's a list of the 2018 Grammy Award Winners:

• Best Rap Performance - "Humble.," Kendrick Lamar - WINNER
• Best Rap/Sung Performance - "Loyalty.," Kendrick Lamar Featuring Rihanna - WINNER
• Best Rap Song - "Humble.," K. Duckworth, Asheton Hogan & M. Williams II, songwriters (Kendrick Lamar) -WINNER
• Best Rap Album - DAMN., Kendrick Lamar - WINNER
• Best Traditional R&B Performance - “Redbone” – Childish Gambino - WINNER
• Best Music Video - “Humble.” – Kendrick Lamar - WINNER