Hereafter you’ll find three musical trends for the year 2019 explained exclusively through the nominees of the 2019 Grammy’s, which will be celebrated the next February 10 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Because, after all, if we skip past the innate trend of the hip-hop surplus which normally sweeps all of the awards, the Grammy’s usually know to a certain extent what’s been cooking up in the music industry.
THREE MUSICAL TRENDS EXPLAINED THROUGH THE 2019 GRAMMY NOMINEES
It might be that, unlike past eras in which anything foreign was better by default, we’re living a historic moment in which our music has more eminence outside of Spain. But that doesn’t stop the Grammy’s (the regular awards, not the Latin ones) from being one of the most essential annual functions to further understand the various musical trends that are relevant here and now.
THE YEAR OF THE WOMAN. It doesn’t escape our minds that, with the #metoo movement renovating our society from the inside and the outside during the past year of 2018, women should have some kind of special mention at the 2019 Grammy’s. Also, anyone who has just a tiny bit of memory will remember last year’s edition which was accused of being sexist, as it only included one woman in their main categories.
This might be why the 2019 Grammy’s have decided to emphasise the feminine side, paying tribute to artists with a particularly empowered discourse (although diametrically opposed) like Cardi B and Janelle Monáe. There’s also room for aspirational figures for the newer generations, by the likes of Jorja Smith or Dua Lipa. And even delicious dissents like the one by Tierra Whack, nominated for Best Music Video for her fascinating extravagance titled Whack World .
BLACK POWER. In their absolute rendition to hip-hop, it’s very clear that black music doesn’t need any kind of extra vindication at the 2019 Grammy’s. But that hasn’t stopped them, for some time now, from radical activism playing a bigger role in that same black music. That activism has reached the nominations to these awards in such stimulating cases such as The Carters (which is Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s joint effort), Childish Gambino and his controversy with his already iconic This is America music video or, above all, Kendrick Lamar who managed to turn the Black Panther soundtrack into a historic album in which only artists of colour participated.
(FEMININE) RENOVATION OF TRADITION. For decades, men have shown a natural tendency to staying antiquated when it comes to musical genres. Some dinosaurs still exist (which we won’t mention purely for discretional purposes) who have been making the same album time and time again for centuries now… And that’s exactly why there are genres that sound inevitably old.
Fortunately, and coinciding with the good year in feminine music, generally speaking, the 2019 Grammy’s have widely recognised the labour of some women who when it comes to re-invigorating certain genres, whether it be St. Vicent or Mitski’s pop-rock or, directly Kacey Musgraves, who has turned country into something from the 21st century thanks to her excellent album Golden Hour. Will men be able to get at their level for once and for all?