Perhaps one of the hugest snubs in a Grammy’s history just silly with them was Kendrick Lamar being completely shut out of every nomination surrounding his earth-shattering sophomore record Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, a record that launched Lamar from the underground to the pinnacle of rap’s modern elite. Lamar would walk away completely empty-handed from perhaps music’s biggest awards ceremony, losing out to a notably furious outcry to certified clowns Macklemore And Ryan Lewis of all people for Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Album.
Macklemore even went as far as to apologise via text message and Lamar took it all in his stride as he does with pretty much everything. At last year’s Grammys the travesty was rectified as far as it can be, Lamar walking away with a Grammy for each fist for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance for his smash hit single i.
It was no surprise though in an interview with Billboard just shy of this year’s Grammys, where Kendrick Lamar has no less than 11 nominations for last year’s game-changing To Pimp A Butterfly, (an album that just went platinum under new RIAA rules) that the subject of the Good Kid Grammys would be broached.
Kendrick isn’t living in the past by any means, stating for the record:
“[The Grammy defeats] would have been upsetting to me if I’d known that was my best work, if I had nothing new to offer,”Good Kid, M.A.A.D City is great work, but it’s not my best work. To Pimp a Butterfly is great. I’m talking about the connection the record made. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City made a connection. But To Pimp a Butterfly made a bigger connection.”
Wow. He also went on to state that he wants “to win them all” at this year’s Grammys, something he may very well be capable of doing. The current Grammys record for most in one year belongs jointly to Michael Jackson and Carlos Santana, each achieving eight in 1984 and 2000 respectively. Does To Pimp A Butterfly stack up there with Thriller though? Depends, Lamar is facing some incredibly stiff competition this year from the likes of The Weeknd and Taylor Swift.
Lamar also went on to stress the importance a Grammys win would be for not just him but hip hop culture in general, stating:
“It’s bigger than me. 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.”
It remains to be seen whether or not 2016 is Kendrick Lamar’s year at the Grammy Awards. Howl And Echoes will be there with any and all news and coverage from the event, taking place February 15th from Los Angeles’ Staples Centre.
For some of Kendrick Lamar’s biggest moments of 2015, read this and this and this and this and also this.