[Mb-civic] Lessons Taught by Grammy - Eugene Robinson - Washington Post Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

Lessons Taught by Grammy

By Eugene Robinson
Friday, February 10, 2006; A19

Was his insolent claim that "George Bush doesn't care about black 
people" the reason Kanye West didn't win the prestigious album of the 
year and record of the year awards he deserved at the Grammys the other 
night? That's just part of the story, I think, and we'll get back to it 
after we first survey the Big Picture.

I've always thought the Grammy Awards offered a better, more finely 
detailed portrait of the American zeitgeist than either the Oscars or 
the Emmys. The sheer profusion of recorded music that comes out in any 
given year -- thousands upon thousands of CDs and EPs and singles and 
downloads and ring tones -- gives the analyst far more data points to 
plot than the relative paucity of movies or television shows ever could.

So what did we discover Wednesday night? For one thing, we learned that 
"American Idol" rules the known world. "Idol" beat the Grammys head to 
head in the ratings, which means that viewers chose to watch fumbling 
amateurs over such legends as Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Sly 
Stone (who, by the way, looked as if he'd been exhumed for the evening). 
The first "Idol" winner, Kelly Clarkson, is now a Grammy winner as well. 
She got to perform, as did fellow "Idol" winner Fantasia Barrino. "Idol" 
judge Randy Jackson thumped away on bass during a tribute to the 
cadaverous Sly.

What this "American Idol" hegemony says about America -- whether it 
speaks of our great national optimism or heralds the final collapse of 
civilization -- depends on whether or not you've sipped the Kool-Aid.

We also learned that our society gives nothing away to China in 
venerating esteemed elders, with perhaps a few exceptions. When Madonna 
came out to open the show, my 15-year-old son turned and asked, "Who's 
that lady?" -- a sad, inadvertent echo of her 1987 movie, "Who's That Girl?"

But McCartney outrocked rockers young enough to be his grandchildren 
with a rowdy version of "Helter Skelter," and Springsteen's solo 
performance of the antiwar ballad "Devils & Dust" was riveting. "Bring 
'em home," he said at the end, turning a generic statement about war 
into a specific one about Iraq.

Now back to Kanye West, the hyper-talented rapper and producer whose 
album "Late Registration" was nominated for eight Grammys and praised by 
most music critics as far and away the best of the year. West ended up 
taking home three Grammys, but not the coveted album of the year award. 
The same thing happened last year with West's acclaimed debut album, 
"The College Dropout."

You will recall that last year, during a Hurricane Katrina telethon, 
West departed from the script and blurted out his now-famous line about 
Bush and black people. Even after seeing those images of poor, black 
survivors in New Orleans, it was startling to hear West say publicly 
what many others were thinking. Still, I don't think that was the only 
reason his album got snubbed.

When it's time to hand out Grammys, the Recording Academy, in its role 
as spokesman for the American subconscious, has always been reluctant to 
fully embrace hip-hop music and culture. As far as the subgenre of 
gangsta rap is concerned, that hesitance is understandable. The record 
industry is happy to sell the stuff by the truckload, but does anyone 
really want to give an official seal of approval to music that 
celebrates nihilistic violence? The current master of the form, 50 Cent, 
was nominated for three Grammys and got shut out. That whole scene is 
just a little too scary.

But West's vibe is preppie, not gangsta. His music is as cerebral as it 
is visceral, and the dangers it flirts with are intellectual and 
political. One song on "Late Registration" is about the trade in 
so-called conflict diamonds, which has fueled wars in developing 
countries such as Sierra Leone. Another song, called "Crack Music," 
basically says that whites invented crack cocaine and watched as the 
drug devastated black communities, but now blacks are turning the tables 
by selling gangsta music to rap-dependent white consumers.

"This dark diction has become America's addiction," the song goes. 
"Those who ain't even black use it. We gon' keep baggin' up this here 
crack music."

West is cocky to the point of arrogance. At the Grammys, in his one 
televised trip to the podium for best rap album, he said the award was a 
surprise -- then ostentatiously unfolded a prepared speech with "THANK 
YOU LIST" printed on the back in letters big enough for everyone to read.

So you can understand the Recording Academy's skittishness. A young 
black man who's smart, talented, political and uppity, too? Now that's 
really scary.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/09/AR2006020901436.html
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