In the wake of the 56th annual Grammy Awards, one of the top stories has been Macklemore beating out all of the other rap artists for best rap album, best rap song and best rap performance. And seemingly, most claimed at least one or 2 of those awards should've been attributed to Kendrick Lamar. Sure Macklemore & Ryan Lewis is definitely a rap act to reckon with, and deserve all the shine they've been getting. Hell, "Thrift Shop" was my jam and I love the message of equality for all promoted through 'Same Love'. Yet, to add insult to injury, Kendrick Lamar graced the stage with Rock band Imagine Dragons to perform one of the most epic, most explosive and quite frankly dopest mashup performances yet. I was all too proud of K Dot; showing the audience and viewers that he's more than just a rapper, he's a truly a musician in every sense of the definition: a person who is talented in making music or performing music creatively.
But you know what else it made me think? Why do Black artists always gotta work so damn hard to win a Grammy or an Oscar? It's as if we (Blacks) have to be under appreciated to win one of those notable awards so we can come accept the award all snotty nosed and "grateful" ie: Halle Berry. Like, WTF!? Good Kid MADD City has been out for almost 2 yrs now and people still bump that is like it's brand new; but it doesn't merit a Grammy? But this is nothing new, hip hop greats such as Nas, 2Pac, Snoop Dogg (er.. *Lion) and neither Rakim nor Run DMC have never won Grammy Awards. Sure they've all recieved noms, but they never merited an actual win. And not to play the race card throughout this but it does lead one to think, whats the difference between some of the lighter newer artists whom have won awards like these in comparison to their darker slightly more seasoned counterparts? If you ask me, it's because the board doesn't truly relate to "real" hip hop nor its origins to completely understand what they're rating and ranking. However as you can see in Macklemore's text above, even he felt K Dot should've won.
Check out Kendrick's awesome mashup performance with Imagine Dragon below and you be the judge.
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