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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Grammy Nominees

  • Chart Chat 1/27/10: History Has Been Made

    This week’s Billboard albums chart brings a historic first. The “Hope for Haiti” benefit album, featuring selections from the telethon last Friday, debuts at #1 with over 171,000 units sold. It is the first completely digital release to debut at the top of the charts. I assume it won’t be the last.

    It’s also the fourth album to hold the #1 spot this month (following Vampire Weekend, Ke$ha and Susan Boyle), which is also a record. Also, it’s scan total means that this is the first January on record in which every #1 album has sold at least 100,000 copies-at least some good news for a hurting music biz.

    Indie rock favorites Spoon debut at #4 with their latest album, “Transference”, selling 53,000 copies. Right behind it is the compilation “Grammy Nominees 2010” with 49K. The other debuts in the Top 50 come from Motion City Soundtrack at #15, and an actual motion picture soundtrack (from the Jeff Bridges film “Crazy Heart”) at #38.

    SuBo’s hanging in a lot tougher than I thought she would. “I Dreamed a Dream” holds at #2 this week with a 12% increase over the previous week’s sales. An “Oprah” appearance was the reason for this increase, similar to the increase Lady Gaga (who is right behind Boyle at #3) enjoyed last week (when I didn’t publish a Chart Chat column. Boo, me).

    The biggest percentage increase on the chart went to another Oprah guest, Adam Lambert. His “For Your Entertainment” jumps fourteen spots to #21, with a 60% increase in sales. Lambert is now a week or two away from Gold status, and airplay picking up for the new single “Whataya Want from Me” should continue to keep sales steady.

    Next week, country trio Lady Antebellum is expected to debut at the top with the biggest first-week numbers of the still young year. A strong move is expected for Michael Jackson’s “This is It” soundtrack (with the DVD release yesterday), and we should also expect a few bumps from Grammy Award coverage, although the true increases won’t really come into play until the following week.

    Here’s this week’s Top 20:

    1) Various Artists “Hope for Haiti”
    2) Susan Boyle “I Dreamed a Dream”
    3) Lady Gaga “The Fame”
    4) Spoon “Transference”
    5) Various Artists “Grammy Nominees 2010”
    6) Vampire Weekend “Contra”
    7) Alicia Keys “The Element of Freedom”
    8) Ke$ha “Animal”
    9) The Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.”
    10) Taylor Swift “Fearless”
    11) Lady Gaga “The Fame: Monster (EP)”
    12) Soundtrack “Alvin & the Chipmunks 2: The Squeaquel”
    13) Justin Bieber “My World (EP)”
    14) Mary J. Blige “Stronger Witheach Tear”
    15) Motion City Soundtrack “My Dinosaur Life”
    16) Lady Antebellum “Lady Antebellum”
    17) Michael Jackson “This is It Soundtrack”
    18) Michael Buble “Crazy Love”
    19) Rihanna “Rated R”
    20) Owl City “Ocean Eyes”

  • SonicClash Handicaps the 2009 Grammy Awards: Viva La Coldplay!!

    radioheadWas 2008 a mediocre year for rock music? Judging from the nominees in Grammy’s rock categories, it’s pretty easy to think so. Almost no new artists are represented here. Even the alternative category is filled with veterans. Also, what’s up with the continued absence of a Female Rock vocal category. There are still quite a few rockin’ chicks out there. I’m surprised women’s groups haven’t protested this oversight!

    Anyway, here are the categories…

    Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance: “Gravity” (John Mayer), “I Saw Her Standing There” (Paul McCartney), “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” (Bruce Springsteen), “Rise” (Eddie Vedder),”Hidden Path” (Neil Young)

    Will Win: Springsteen

    Should Win: Can’t argue with The Boss

    Mayer and McCartney are pretty much spaceholders-nominated for live performances of old songs. While it would be nice to see Eddie Vedder pick up a Grammy for his haunting “Into the Wild” soundtrack, this one goes to Springsteen, whose profile is higher than it’s been in years.

    Best Rock Performance, Duo or Group: “Rock ‘n Roll Train” (AC/DC), “Violet Hill” (Coldplay), “Long Road Out of Eden” (The Eagles), “Sex on Fire” (Kings of Leon), “House of Cards” (Radiohead)

    Will Win: Coldplay

    Should Win: Kings of Leon

    I feel a Coldplay sweep coming on. The Eagles’ appearance in this category is laughable, and while it’s cool to see AC/DC nominated for a Grammy (for the FIRST time), they probably won’t win (now watch them turn around and give the award to AC/DC). I say this award (and most of the others in this category) goes on Chris Martin’s mantelpiece, although “Sex on Fire” is one of the best songs of the year, regardless of genre.

    Best Hard Rock Performance: “Inside the Fire” (Disturbed), “Visions” (Judas Priest), “Wax Simulacra” (Mars Volta), “Saints of Los Angeles” (Motley Crue), “Lords of Salem” (Rob Zombie)

    Will Win: Disturbed

    Should Win: ???

    Rob Zombie’s automatically excluded, because his entry is a live performance. Every once in a while, the Grammy folks like to prove that they’re cool, which means that they’ll bypass old-school faves Judas Priest and Motley Crue and give the award to relative newcomers Disturbed.

    Best Metal Performance: “Heroes of Our Time” (Dragonforce), “Nostradamus” (Judas Priest), “My Apocalypse” (Metallica), “Under My Thumb” (Ministry), “Psychosocial” (Slipknot)

    Will Win: Metallica

    Should Win: Dragonforce

    Oh, come on. Any metal Grammy category that includes Metallica has already been decided. The four-headed behemoth will trounce the competition. However, Dragonforce deserves some props for delivering metal that takes it all the way back to 1983, albeit with superior instrumental prowess.

    Best Rock Song: “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” (Bruce Springsteen), “House of Cards” (Radiohead), “I Will Possess Your Heart” (Death Cab for Cutie), “Sex on Fire” (Kings of Leon), “Violet Hill” (Coldplay)

    Will Win: Coldplay

    Should Win: Death Cab for Cutie or Kings of Leon

    Remember I said something about a Coldplay sweep? It will continue in this category. The Springsteen track is too old, Radiohead will win the alternative category (see below), and KOL and Death Cab are still relatively new artists. However, DC4C’s Ben Gibbard deserves this award just for writing the creepiest stalker song of the year.


    Best Rock Album: “Viva La Vida or Death & All His Friends” (Coldplay), “Rock ‘n Roll Jesus” (Kid Rock), “Only by the Night” (Kings of Leon), “Death Magnetic” (Metallica), “Consolers of the Lonely” (The Raconteurs)

    Will Win: Coldplay

    Should Win: Kings of Leon

    In this category, the biggest seller usually wins, but in this case, the biggest seller is Kid Rock. Ain’t nobody givin’ Kid Rock a Grammy award. Metallica has an outside chance, but Coldplay’s picking up steam and will most likely snatch this one up too. How’d The Raconteurs end up here? Does anyone even remember that they released an album last year?

    Best Alternative Performance: “Modern Guilt” (Beck), “Narrow Stairs” (Death Cab for Cutie), “The Odd Couple” (Gnarls Barkley), “Evil Urges” (My Morning Jacket), “In Rainbows” (Radiohead)

    Will Win: Radiohead

    Should Win: Any of these is worthy.

    Five nominees, five excellent albums, all of which are Grammy worthy. However, Radiohead’s got the nomination in the major category (Album of the Year), so they’ll take the prize, and thank goodness that Coldplay wasn’t nominated here!!

  • SonicClash Handicaps The Grammys Part 1: Rap

    jiggaGrammy has had an interesting relationship with hip-hop over the years. They didn’t institute a rap category until 1988, and for those first few years, it seemed like the rap categories were some kind of joke. They went to safe-rap artists like Young MC and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, while unquestionably more talented artists like Public Enemy went winless. Hell, I’m not sure if Ice Cube, an undisputed hip-hop legend, has ever even been NOMINATED for one of those statues.

    Over the past years, Grammy’s reputation has gotten better, although it could be argued that they still play it safe to an extent. Eminem, Kanye West and OutKast have almost completely ruled the rap category this decade, with Jay-Z swooping in for a few trophies along the way. This year’s nominees don’t offer anything embarrassing, but I wonder if seeing the same names over and over is an indication of Grammy’s unwillingness to look beyond the status quo or an indication of how much hip-hop fuckin’ sucks these days.

    Anyway, here are the nominees in the rap categories

    Best Rap Solo Performance

    • Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)…(Jay-Z)/ A Milli (Lil Wayne)/ Paris, Tokyo
      (Lupe Fiasco) / N.i.*.*.e.r. (The Slave And The Master)(Nas)/ Sexual Eruption
      (Snoop Dogg)

    Will Win: Jay-Z

    Should Win: Jay-Z

    WTF?: After the kind of year T.I. had, where the hell is he?

    All five nominees in this category are pretty solid. However, Nas’s track is a political hot potato, which should be enough for it to not win. Snoop’s song is more singing than rapping (as good as it is), and Lupe Fiasco, despite a Grammy win already, isn’t well known enough to take this one home. There’s the possibility that Wayne could walk away with this in light of having the biggest selling album of the year, but I go with Jay-Z, due to his previous Grammy success (one of his five trophies is in this category for “99 Problems”) and because his song’s the best of the five nominees.

    Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group

    • Royal Flush (Big Boi Featuring Raekwon And Andre 3000)/ Swagga Like Us (Jay-Z & T.I. Featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne)/
      Mr. Carter (Lil Wayne Featuring Jay-Z)/ Wish You Would (Ludacris Featuring T.I.)/ Put On (Young Jeezy Featuring Kanye West)

    Will Win: “Swagga Like Us”

    Should Win: This category sucks

    WTF: The Roots (previous Grammy winners) made a great record, and they’re actually a rap GROUP as opposed to a superstar collaboration. Where are they?

    Despite the fact that all four artists on the song are nominated elsewhere in the SAME category, or maybe because of it, this one’s a no-brainer for the “Swagga” camp. The fact that they’re performing on the show seals the deal. The only other song that has a snowflake’s chance in hell is “Mr. Carter”. The Big Boi and Ludacris songs aren’t especially well-known, and while “Put On” was the biggest hit, I just can’t see Young Jeezy winning a Grammy.

    Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

    • American Boy (Estelle Featuring Kanye West)/ Low (Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain)/ Green Light (John Legend & Andre 3000)/ Got Money
      (Lil Wayne Featuring T-Pain)/ Superstar (Lupe Fiasco Featuring Matthew Santos)

    Will Win: “American Boy”

    Should Win: “Green Light”

    WTF?: T-Pain gets nominated twice. Sigh.

    Well, the good thing about seeing T-Pain twice in this category is that he’ll more than likely cancel himself out, leaving three songs with a legitimate chance of winning (despite “Low” being the year’s biggest single, I can’t imagine anyone giving Flo-Rida a Grammy). Lupe’s song feels like it’s been out for 10 years already, so people have already forgotten. The Grammy folks love John Legend AND Andre 3000, so there’s a chance that the deserving “Green Light” could sneak in, but I pick “American Boy”, which is the only song in this category nominated in one of the 4 major categories (Song of the Year).

    Best Rap Song

    • Lollipop: D. Carter, S. Garrett, D. Harrison, J. Scheffer & R. Zamor, songwriters (Lil Wayne Featuring Static Major)/ Low:
      Tramar Dillard, M. Humphrey, Faheem Najm, Korey Roberson & Howard Simmons, songwriters (Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain)
      Sexual Eruption: Calvin Broadus, S. Lovejoy & D. Stewart, songwriters (Snoop Dogg)/ Superstar: Lupe Fiasco & Soundtrakk, songwriters (Lupe Fiasco Featuring Matthew Santos)/ Swagga Like Us: Jeff Bhaskev, D. Carter, S. Carter, Clifford Harris, Plain Pat & Kanye West, songwriters (M. Arulpragasam, N. Headon, M. Jones, J. Mellor, T. Pentz & P. Simonon, songwriters) (Jay-Z & T.I. Featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne)

    Will Win: “Lollipop”

    Should Win:”Superstar”

    This is a songwriter’s award, so while it would be nice to see M.I.A. and the members of The Clash win a Grammy (“Swagga Like Us” samples a line from M.I.A.’s smash “Paper Planes”, which gets its’ musical bed from The Clash’s “Straight to Hell”), the fact is that all of the performers except T.I. give subpar lyrical performances. Wait? Since when does that matter at the Grammy Awards? In this case, I pick Lil’ Wayne to win in this category, because the biggest hit usually wins, and “Low” is automatically disqualified because, again, no one’s voting for Flo-Rida. Lupe’s “Superstar” (and T.I.’s verse from “Swagga”) are the only legitimately solid lyrical accomplishments in this category, however. “Swagga” could sneak past and win this. Either way. Lil’ Wayne is going home with something in this category.

    Best Rap Album

    • American Gangster (Jay-Z)/ Tha Carter III (Lil Wayne)/ The Cool (Lupe Fiasco)/ Nas (Nas)/ Paper Trail (T.I.)

    Will Win: Lil Wayne

    Should Win: Pick’em

    WTF: Again, The Roots should have been represented here. They wouldn’t have won, but they should have been in the category.

    With five solid entries in this category, it’s difficult to pick a winner. Or is it? Nas’s album, despite the album title controversy, flew under the radar and Fiasco’s relative anonymity will be his downfall. I should (and will) pick Lil Wayne to win because his album was the most popular in the category (and is the only one nominated in one of the Big 4, with his nod for Album of the Year), but T.I. is the it guy right now and the Grammy folks might want to pick the artist that’s freshest in their minds. He could sneak this one out, as could Jay-Z, as the elder statesman and a previous winner in this category (for “Hard Knock Life”). “American Gangster” got quite solid reviews (reasoning beyond me), so that could push it over the top.

    Whoever wins which category, I say Lil Wayne brings home a lot of trophies regardless.