Could Kendrick Lamar win the Grammy for album of the year?
Kendrick Lamar is up for 11 Grammys for "To Pimp a Butterfly." Credit: Invision / Rich Fury
Kendrick Lamar is set to have a big Grammy night.
His ambitious “To Pimp a Butterfly” (Top Dawg/Aftermath/Interscope) album has 11 nominations, the most this year. He is expected to do well in the rap category, potentially sweeping all four awards.
But will Lamar land the award that has eluded Kanye West, Jay Z and so many other rappers? Will he win the album of the year Grammy?
It’s hard to say. In previous years, the answer would be a definitive no. Hip-hop albums have landed the night’s top honor only twice in Grammy history. West alone has gone into three separate Grammy contests with the most nominations for the year only to miss out on winning the top prize.
But as the presidential race has shown, 2016 is no normal year. And a Grammy vote for “To Pimp a Butterfly” may be much more than simply a vote for Lamar.
“It’s bigger than me,” the rapper from Compton recently told Billboard. “When we think about the Grammys, only Lauryn Hill and Outkast have won album of the year. This would be big for hip-hop culture at large.”
What makes the album of the year Grammy — along with the best new artist and record and song of the year awards — is that they are voted on by the entire Recording Academy, while all the other awards are picked by members involved in a specific genre. Some say that system gives the edge to older, more established artists, rather than popular ones.
However, Paul Porter, founder of RapRehab.com and a former BET exec, says that this year the system favors Lamar.
“He can win because of that system of voters,” says Porter, who is also a member of the Parents Television Council advisory board. “He’s cooler than cool, so they’ll all vote for him. They might not all know, but there’s enough great buzz about him that you’ll look bad voting for some of the other records. [The album] is that good.”
Hilary Hughes, music editor for the Village Voice, agrees, saying that “To Pimp a Butterfly” was “indisputably the top album of the year,” according to this year’s Pazz and Jop poll of more than 500 music critics that ran in The Voice last month. “Kendrick had far and away a historic win,” says Hughes. “It was a consensus. . . . This was the record 2015 needed, a product of the time in which it was made.”
These days, in an ever-splintering music industry filled with ever-shrinking niches, consensus is hard to come by. It seems even less likely to achieve when faced with Lamar’s unflinching look at life as a black rapper today. However, Hughes says Lamar’s skill won people over.
“It made people think a lot and was astounding to listen to, but it wasn’t essentially polarizing,” she says. “It was just great work lyrically and he brings something new to the table. . . . It’s just a triumph of a record across the board and that’s what voters want. They want something that’s a triumph.”
Even President Barack Obama proclaimed “To Pimp a Butterfly” the best album of the year in a recent YouTube interview. He told People magazine that “How Much a Dollar Cost,” a parable where God appears to Lamar as a homeless man asking for a dollar, was his favorite song of 2015.
However, before you start deleting those #GrammysSoWhite tweets, there are a few things to consider. “To Pimp a Butterfly” is up against Taylor Swift’s multiplatinum blockbuster “1989,” as well as The Weeknd’s breakthrough R&B album “Beauty Behind the Madness,” Chris Stapleton’s beloved country debut “Traveller” and Alabama Shakes’ rocking “Sound & Color.” And Swift has already taken home an album of the year Grammy in 2010 for “Fearless.”
Also, Lamar has lived through a potentially big Grammy night before, with controversial results. In 2014, his debut “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City” landed seven Grammy nominations, including album of the year, and was completely shut out.
Lamar’s album even lost the best rap album Grammy to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ album “The Heist,” which touched off a social media frenzy so big Macklemore even apologized to Lamar for winning.
“You got robbed,” Macklemore texted Lamar. “I wanted you to win. You should have. It’s weird and sucks that I robbed you. I was gonna say that during the speech then the music started playing during my speech and I froze. Anyway, you know what it is. Congrats on this year and your music. Appreciate you as an artist and as a friend. Much love.”
Of course, the reason we know that Macklemore texted that is because he quickly posted it to his own Instagram, causing many to wonder how genuine the Seattle rapper’s sentiments were.
“To Pimp a Butterfly” is far more ambitious than Lamar’s debut, though, and that could give him the edge.
“He knows it’s not for everybody, but if you listen, he’s got you,” says Porter, adding that Lamar tackles topics similar to Bob Dylan. “He is what hip-hop is supposed to be.”
WHAT The 58th Grammys
WHEN|WHERE 8 p.m. Monday, CBS/2 (preshow begins at 3 p.m.)
INFO grammy.com
Bringing his family album — and new suit — to the Grammys
Tim Kubart was on a flight to Los Angeles for a gig with his band Postmodern Jukebox when he got the news.
“I forgot to put my phone in airplane mode and I got a text from a friend that was just emojis of dancing people,” says Kubart, the Farmingdale native who also hosts Sprout TV’s “Sunny Side Up.” “I thought, ‘Why would they send this to me? Could it be?’ ”
Yes, it could. Kubart had landed his first Grammy nomination — a best children’s album nod for his album “Home” (Tim and The Space Cadets).
“I knew there was a chance,” says Kubart, who now lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. “But we just wanted to do the best album we possibly could. We were on a real mission this time — singing about family life and being honest.”
Kubart says he wanted “Home” to be approachable to kids, reflecting the music they hear on pop radio, but still teaching them something about the world.
“It has to be singable after you’ve only heard half of it,” he says. “You’re trying to meet the kids where they are.”
“Breakfast Club” shows his approach, where Kubart sings, “My daddy slept through his alarm. . . . He’s got a bus to catch in 10, but he’s got time to squeeze a little hanging in” over a Katy Perry-ish pop number.
Kubart, who even had a new gray suit made for him by Brooklyn Tailors for the event, is ready to enjoy his Grammy experience, including performing at a benefit for the Symphonic Jazz Orchestra’s Music in the Schools with the other children’s album nominees and attending the Grammy Hall of Fame induction ceremony. And he plans to remember the Grammy ceremony by finding out if he wins during the pre-telecast, watching for Adele and Justin Bieber during the main show, while also rooting for “Hamilton.”
He should also keep on the lookout for Long Island Music Hall of Famers Run-DMC, who will be among those receiving lifetime achievement awards at this year’s Grammys.
“Their exceptional accomplishments, contributions, and artistry will continue to influence and inspire generations to come,” The Recording Academy’s CEO Neil Portnow said in a statement about the hip-hop pioneers, as well as the year’s other lifetime achievement award winners Ruth Brown, Celia Cruz, Earth, Wind & Fire, Herbie Hancock, Jefferson Airplane and Linda Ronstadt.
Run-DMC — Rev. Run, DJ Jam Master Jay and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, who lived in Freeport for several years — are best known for their crossover hit “Walk This Way,” though their pioneering hits “It’s Like That” and “Rock Box” helped build hip-hop.
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