Folklore wins AOTY

[HuffsAhoy 7,433]

10 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said:

I've already made my thoughts clear on this previously and I'd really appreciate people not giving me LMAO reactions for it. Pardon me if I think it's a bit excessive for an artist to win the award 3 times. To me, a one-time honour should be more than enough as it's that monumental. The way things were going on the night, I really thought it looked like the Grammys weren't going to give in to an album that was so obviously award bait but they just did it and for an artist who has already had this honour enough times previously. It also strikes me as bizarre that this is Taylor's first Grammy since 1989 and she lost all her other nominations that night. If they were going to give her her first award in a while, why not for a song, why a whole album but then not award her for any individual songs if the album as a whole was that good? They'd better not pull out this same nonsense for Evermore when it gets nominated because it'll be beyond a joke if they do it 2 years in a row. But as I also said previously, Taylor's now won the award for 3 different kinds of album now and I can't see her doing any other avenue than pop and acoustic for the rest of her career, so the chances of her winning AOTY again will be slim to none. That's the best way to look at it. But it's annoying to think that Taylor's achieved this with an album that wouldn't have even existed had it not been for the pandemic. It just seems unfair to those who had it all planned out. I'd be far more bitter if Gaga hadn't won anything though. And at least she still has one more award than Taylor and may well win another one with the upcoming C2C sequel. 

Beautifully stated!! You summed up my disgust at Taylor winning yet again in a much more elegant way than I did earlier!

[StrawberryBlond 14,898]

13 minutes ago, President Biden said:

Awards are given on an individual basis, based off the quality of the work. “Prior wins” does not factor in, whether positively or negatively. So that’s just another false narrative to judge her win on.

 

The only basis you can criticize folklore on is if you genuinely think another record was of higher quality.

 

Awards experience, sales, number of performances, other category wins, etc DO NOT MATTER. 

In theory, that's true. But we don't know what really goes on behind the scenes. Let's just say that some wins and the timing of their wins are extremely suspicious. Don't you not think it weird that Taylor always has 2 albums between every win and that she's won them in a perfect spread over the course of a decade? I don't believe that there isn't some discussion over who the academy want to see as winners. And the thing is, they know who's winning a month before we do so why they think it looks acceptable for an album to win AOTY when it lost all its other nominations that night is anyone's guess. At least go back and do a re-vote for at least one more category and maybe try to give the artist one more award to make it look better. If she won just one more award for either Cardigan or Exile, I would have accepted this so much more. As it is, her win just looks nonsensical and bizarre, just like when she won for 1989 when she didn't win an award for any musical output from that album, just a music video, which doesn't count in my view.

And yes, I do think Chromatica was of higher quality but it obviously wasn't nominated in AOTY. Based on the albums I had heard in the category, I was rooting for Future Nostalgia, even though I think it's just ok. And Dua won best pop album, so it would've at least made sense. But this was an all-round bad year for albums. Even as a Gaga fan, I thought Chromatica was her worst album. Very few of any awards tonight were deserved in my opinion.

[Stephen 30,431]

I mean the real AOTY wasn't even nominated so it's a hollow victory

The real winners should have been...

Spoiler

 

ROTY - Blinding Lights

AOTY - After Hours

SOTY - Don't Start Now OR Rain On Me 

Best Pop Solo - Blinding Lights

Best Pop Album and Best Pop Duo wins were correct.

 

[HuffsAhoy 7,433]

5 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said:

Even as a Gaga fan, I thought Chromatica was her worst album.

Any ounce of ethos you had is now blown to bits with this comment 

[StrawberryBlond 14,898]

3 minutes ago, HuffsAhoy said:

Any ounce of ethos you had is now blown to bits with this comment 

I still gave it 4 stars out of 5, calm down. With Gaga, even her worst is still very good, that's why she's my fave. I'm just not as into the dance pop stuff, that's all. And it was still my favourite album of the year and I listen to albums across the board. I just thought 2020 was a lacklustre year for music, or albums specifically.

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said:

In theory, that's true. But we don't know what really goes on behind the scenes. Let's just say that some wins and the timing of their wins are extremely suspicious. Don't you not think it weird that Taylor always has 2 albums between every win and that she's won them in a perfect spread over the course of a decade? I don't believe that there isn't some discussion over who the academy want to see as winners. And the thing is, they know who's winning a month before we do so why they think it looks acceptable for an album to win AOTY when it lost all its other nominations that night is anyone's guess. At least go back and do a re-vote for at least one more category and maybe try to give the artist one more award to make it look better. If she won just one more award for either Cardigan or Exile, I would have accepted this so much more. As it is, her win just looks nonsensical and bizarre, just like when she won for 1989 when she didn't win an award for any musical output from that album, just a music video, which doesn't count in my view.

And yes, I do think Chromatica was of higher quality but it obviously wasn't nominated in AOTY. Based on the albums I had heard in the category, I was rooting for Future Nostalgia, even though I think it's just ok. And Dua won best pop album, so it would've at least made sense. But this was an all-round bad year for albums. Even as a Gaga fan, I thought Chromatica was her worst album. Very few of any awards tonight were deserved in my opinion.

Let it go and accept Taylor success, you will sleep better at night

[LilyLark 10,107]

I don't really get why people are upset about this? There's an argument that Fearless and 1989 shouldn't have won (1989 was so incredibly massive, but other albums had more critical acclaim)....BUT this year there hasn't been an album that has had the same amount of critical acclaim & the numbers of Folklore. There's an argument that other albums should have been nominated, but for Taylor to win in this category is....fine.

Anyway, deserved imo.

[Bleachella 2,932]

16 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

In theory, that's true. But we don't know what really goes on behind the scenes. Let's just say that some wins and the timing of their wins are extremely suspicious. Don't you not think it weird that Taylor always has 2 albums between every win and that she's won them in a perfect spread over the course of a decade? I don't believe that there isn't some discussion over who the academy want to see as winners. And the thing is, they know who's winning a month before we do so why they think it looks acceptable for an album to win AOTY when it lost all its other nominations that night is anyone's guess. At least go back and do a re-vote for at least one more category and maybe try to give the artist one more award to make it look better. If she won just one more award for either Cardigan or Exile, I would have accepted this so much more. As it is, her win just looks nonsensical and bizarre, just like when she won for 1989 when she didn't win an award for any musical output from that album, just a music video, which doesn't count in my view.

And yes, I do think Chromatica was of higher quality but it obviously wasn't nominated in AOTY. Based on the albums I had heard in the category, I was rooting for Future Nostalgia, even though I think it's just ok. And Dua won best pop album, so it would've at least made sense. But this was an all-round bad year for albums. Even as a Gaga fan, I thought Chromatica was her worst album. Very few of any awards tonight were deserved in my opinion.

Few things here: 

Both Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder won their 3 Album of the Year wins in very quick succession. Sinatra in 9 years, Wonder in 6. It took Taylor 11, actually, so not a perfect decade, unless decades changed to 11 years. And this was far before the Grammys were probably concerned with pleasing general audiences, so you can count that out for Sinatra and Wonder’s wins. Actually, of the 3 lead artists who’ve won this 3 times (Taylor, Frank, and Stevie, Paul won as a producer on a few albums I’m pretty sure), it actually took Taylor the longest.

Secondly, I don’t think the Grammys care about how they look giving certain awards to certain people. If that were the case, vehement backlash over 25 winning would’ve resulted in a... well, not Bruno win the next year. Or a Kacey win the following, but a Kendrick one instead. Similarly, if the Recording Academy really cared as much about pleasing general audiences, they would’ve nominated The Weeknd. Old topic of conversation, I’m aware, but they’re not stupid. They knew snubbing him for every category would result in huge press and headlines and inevitably draw more interest in the show, but given the viewership that looks to have backfired... 

It’s interesting that you think the Grammys are so concerned about what you think is acceptable or not. Again, I think pretty much all their actions have proven that is far from the case. The Recording Academy, more than any other major branch (Television Academy, AMPAS, and the American Theatre Wing), pretty much do whatever they want. They’re the only major award from EGOT without any sort of major pre-cursor awards, and widely regarded as the least prestigious of the 4. I think it’s a little concerning that instead of focusing on the integrity of the wins, you suggest that wins should be tampered with in order to look more... acceptable? Weird line of thinking. 

1989 did win for musical output. Best Pop Vocal Album. Unless you think that’s not musical output and to win Album of the Year you need some sort of song award as well which... Babes, lemme tell you, this is NOT the Oscars! At the Grammys, you can most definitely win the top prize without winning ANY other award. 

Future Nostalgia’s win could definitely be explained by the fact that it’s undeniably the more poppy album of the two. While I wouldn’t have put folklore in alternative per se, it definitely is the odd one out in the pop category, much like Beck’s Colors EP was a few years back. Voters likely heard Future Nostalgia, a tried and true synth pop record, and voted for that over the softer, more subdued folklore, with heaps of alternative and folk influences. However, folklore ended up winning the top prize because it inarguably has more cross-genre appeal. Hell, you could get some of the pop voters, the country voters, the rock voter, the alternative voters, and more to vote for folklore. As much as it may pain you, folklore is genuinely universally adored. I think it’s lone Album of the Year win, while a little upsetting as a Taylor fan, isn’t surprising. Let’s run through the categories. Pop Vocal? I explained above. Pop solo? This was never going to her, my bet was on Dua even if Taylor ended up winning SOTY (much like Lizzo winning Pop Solo last year while Billie swept the GF). Harry won, another (in my eyes) incredibly deserving winner. Pop duo? Honestly, I thought BTS had this in the bag, because, much like you, I foolishly thought the Recording Academy actually cared about what anyone thought of the winners! Visual media song? Again, this was Billie’s to lose. Her best bet in my opinion was cardigan in Song of the Year (due to her... somehow.... never winning a Song of the Year category as one of the most prolific songwriters of our generation) and folklore in Album of the Year. I Can’t Breathe ended up taking song, which again, deserving winner and was the other song I was predicting would take it. 

I understand you’re not fond of Taylor and, as you said, most of the albums released this year. It’s totally cool to have your own personal biases and comment on that. But your argument is riddled with loose logic and straight up misinformation at times. I think you’re projecting your own beliefs onto reality, and the reality is that the Recording Academy has always, and probably will always, do literally whatever the **** they want, no matter who says anything. And this year, that was giving folklore AOTY and nothing else! 

[vyniildisk 12,689]

16 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

In theory, that's true. But we don't know what really goes on behind the scenes. Let's just say that some wins and the timing of their wins are extremely suspicious. Don't you not think it weird that Taylor always has 2 albums between every win and that she's won them in a perfect spread over the course of a decade? I don't believe that there isn't some discussion over who the academy want to see as winners. And the thing is, they know who's winning a month before we do so why they think it looks acceptable for an album to win AOTY when it lost all its other nominations that night is anyone's guess. At least go back and do a re-vote for at least one more category and maybe try to give the artist one more award to make it look better. If she won just one more award for either Cardigan or Exile, I would have accepted this so much more. As it is, her win just looks nonsensical and bizarre, just like when she won for 1989 when she didn't win an award for any musical output from that album, just a music video, which doesn't count in my view.

And yes, I do think Chromatica was of higher quality but it obviously wasn't nominated in AOTY. Based on the albums I had heard in the category, I was rooting for Future Nostalgia, even though I think it's just ok. And Dua won best pop album, so it would've at least made sense. But this was an all-round bad year for albums. Even as a Gaga fan, I thought Chromatica was her worst album. Very few of any awards tonight were deserved in my opinion.

also the way Taylor said at the end of her speech

"Thank you recording academy, we will never forget you did this for us" like wtf? such odd comment.

[emig09 24,701]

My Talor's fav is Lover and everyone hates it so idk WTF with my taste 

[js4754394o9823 6,882]

17 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

I've already made my thoughts clear on this previously and I'd really appreciate people not giving me LMAO reactions for it. Pardon me if I think it's a bit excessive for an artist to win the award 3 times. To me, a one-time honour should be more than enough as it's that monumental. The way things were going on the night, I really thought it looked like the Grammys weren't going to give in to an album that was so obviously award bait but they just did it and for an artist who has already had this honour enough times previously. It also strikes me as bizarre that this is Taylor's first Grammy since 1989 and she lost all her other nominations that night. If they were going to give her her first award in a while, why not for a song, why a whole album but then not award her for any individual songs if the album as a whole was that good? They'd better not pull out this same nonsense for Evermore when it gets nominated because it'll be beyond a joke if they do it 2 years in a row. But as I also said previously, Taylor's now won the award for 3 different kinds of album now and I can't see her doing any other avenue than pop and acoustic for the rest of her career, so the chances of her winning AOTY again will be slim to none. That's the best way to look at it. But it's annoying to think that Taylor's achieved this with an album that wouldn't have even existed had it not been for the pandemic. It just seems unfair to those who had it all planned out. I'd be far more bitter if Gaga hadn't won anything though. And at least she still has one more award than Taylor and may well win another one with the upcoming C2C sequel. 

She made a slow album with poetic lyrics, how is it an award hungry record? Nothing sounded like that in 2020, everyone was releasing disco.

Also, what's your point with the pandemic thing? Something happened, she used it to make art, as any other artist, lol

[VasilisVas 5,200]

On 3/15/2021 at 4:28 AM, Spock said:

Whew TAOTYlor strikes again  such an amazing album, so proud of her. I hope this makes her haters fume even more  

Beyoncé literally just became the woman with the most Grammy wins ever, so your shade isn’t even statistically correct  also why not, you know, celebrate the fact that women are breaking these milestones instead of dragging them because your fAvE didn’t win smh

1) Goor for Beyoncé. Never did I mention her in my comment anywhere. 
2) good for all the women. Never did I say I had anything against any women or never did I mention having an issue with woman sweeping with the awards. I made one general comment about Taylor and Taylor only, so don’t try to come for me. Thx. 

[StrawberryBlond 14,898]

12 hours ago, SUBURBIA said:

Few things here: 

Both Frank Sinatra and Stevie Wonder won their 3 Album of the Year wins in very quick succession. Sinatra in 9 years, Wonder in 6. It took Taylor 11, actually, so not a perfect decade, unless decades changed to 11 years. And this was far before the Grammys were probably concerned with pleasing general audiences, so you can count that out for Sinatra and Wonder’s wins. Actually, of the 3 lead artists who’ve won this 3 times (Taylor, Frank, and Stevie, Paul won as a producer on a few albums I’m pretty sure), it actually took Taylor the longest.

Secondly, I don’t think the Grammys care about how they look giving certain awards to certain people. If that were the case, vehement backlash over 25 winning would’ve resulted in a... well, not Bruno win the next year. Or a Kacey win the following, but a Kendrick one instead. Similarly, if the Recording Academy really cared as much about pleasing general audiences, they would’ve nominated The Weeknd. Old topic of conversation, I’m aware, but they’re not stupid. They knew snubbing him for every category would result in huge press and headlines and inevitably draw more interest in the show, but given the viewership that looks to have backfired... 

It’s interesting that you think the Grammys are so concerned about what you think is acceptable or not. Again, I think pretty much all their actions have proven that is far from the case. The Recording Academy, more than any other major branch (Television Academy, AMPAS, and the American Theatre Wing), pretty much do whatever they want. They’re the only major award from EGOT without any sort of major pre-cursor awards, and widely regarded as the least prestigious of the 4. I think it’s a little concerning that instead of focusing on the integrity of the wins, you suggest that wins should be tampered with in order to look more... acceptable? Weird line of thinking. 

1989 did win for musical output. Best Pop Vocal Album. Unless you think that’s not musical output and to win Album of the Year you need some sort of song award as well which... Babes, lemme tell you, this is NOT the Oscars! At the Grammys, you can most definitely win the top prize without winning ANY other award. 

Future Nostalgia’s win could definitely be explained by the fact that it’s undeniably the more poppy album of the two. While I wouldn’t have put folklore in alternative per se, it definitely is the odd one out in the pop category, much like Beck’s Colors EP was a few years back. Voters likely heard Future Nostalgia, a tried and true synth pop record, and voted for that over the softer, more subdued folklore, with heaps of alternative and folk influences. However, folklore ended up winning the top prize because it inarguably has more cross-genre appeal. Hell, you could get some of the pop voters, the country voters, the rock voter, the alternative voters, and more to vote for folklore. As much as it may pain you, folklore is genuinely universally adored. I think it’s lone Album of the Year win, while a little upsetting as a Taylor fan, isn’t surprising. Let’s run through the categories. Pop Vocal? I explained above. Pop solo? This was never going to her, my bet was on Dua even if Taylor ended up winning SOTY (much like Lizzo winning Pop Solo last year while Billie swept the GF). Harry won, another (in my eyes) incredibly deserving winner. Pop duo? Honestly, I thought BTS had this in the bag, because, much like you, I foolishly thought the Recording Academy actually cared about what anyone thought of the winners! Visual media song? Again, this was Billie’s to lose. Her best bet in my opinion was cardigan in Song of the Year (due to her... somehow.... never winning a Song of the Year category as one of the most prolific songwriters of our generation) and folklore in Album of the Year. I Can’t Breathe ended up taking song, which again, deserving winner and was the other song I was predicting would take it. 

I understand you’re not fond of Taylor and, as you said, most of the albums released this year. It’s totally cool to have your own personal biases and comment on that. But your argument is riddled with loose logic and straight up misinformation at times. I think you’re projecting your own beliefs onto reality, and the reality is that the Recording Academy has always, and probably will always, do literally whatever the **** they want, no matter who says anything. And this year, that was giving folklore AOTY and nothing else! 

Artists released music more frequently back then, once or more a year, a lot more chances to win and competition wasn't as fierce back then. And we don't need to get pedantic over the idea of a perfect decade. The Grammys don't even give awards based on a January-December calendar year, Taylor released 1989 in late 2014 but didn't win best album until early 2016 because of the weird timeline guidelines.

I won't deny that they don't always go after what the public want, indeed, they wouldn't awarded Kendrick or Beyonce the award by now if that were the case. But they do notably do "corrections" the following year based on what the audience reaction was to the ceremony. Complaints about lack of POC winners? Make sure there's plenty next year. Complaints about lack of female winners? Make sure there's plenty next year. Complaints about lack of smaller name winners? Give AOTY to an non-commercial artist next year. But "give AOTY to an artist who's already won at least one other award for this album" still hasn't quite got through to them yet. I don't see what's wrong with saying "We've got a situation here - the winning album didn't win anything else. Are there any categories where it lost that people were a bit torn on their decision and may vote in its favour if given a chance?" If it's just one person coming up with the winners, fair enough that stuff when odd situations happen (as a music reviewer myself I've frequently praised albums whose singles weren't that great and vice versa) but when its decided by a group of people, there's got to be compromise.

I don't know how I missed the fact that it won best pop album. I could've sworn that she only got best music video all this time. The Mandela Effect is real! Well, forgive me on that one, honest mistake. Still think it looks weird to only take home the biggest prize of the night but nothing else, though.

I know that FN probably won as it incapsulated the pop genre better, but I totally thought it was a shoo-in for the big prize, I hadn't seen a mainstream pop album be this acclaimed for a long time. I really don't think Folklore should've been in the pop category. It may be mainstream folk and it gave those genuine, smaller name folk artists a shot at an award, but come on. Even alternative would've been a better category. How many pop albums don't have one upbeat song on them? That's another thing about the Grammys - once you've been nominated in a category, that's pretty much where you'll stay no matter what genre you make.

It's never my intention to provide misinformation, I just made a mistake. But I'm someone who likes to live in reality and always look at things from a realistic standpoint. I'm not one for smoke and mirrors and always question things that seem a bit strange. The academy is shrouded in so much secrecy and has been riddled with rumours of bribery for years and no one really knows how things are decided. According to some members, it sounds like a process where some voters don't even really know who they're voting for because they've not heard all the submissions and end up voting for the one they've heard of rather than listen to see which one they like the most, which is usually why the biggest names in less commercial genres like jazz, American roots, reggae, etc. always win as opposed to the ones who aren't even clickable on Wikipedia. Who wins is mostly based around who has the biggest campaign, how much commercial weight they carry, how respected they are. Judging on actual music quality is optional but not necessary.

12 hours ago, Dulo Peep said:

also the way Taylor said at the end of her speech

"Thank you recording academy, we will never forget you did this for us" like wtf? such odd comment.

I thought it was odd too. It was like she was commenting on how weird it was to win nothing all night and then this. Or that the academy fixed the award in her favour (which I don't believe but it could be interpreted that way). I think a lot of people have forgotten by now that after Arcade Fire won, they immediately launched into performing a song afterwards, all their equipment was set up. And no winner of the award ever performed immediately afterwards before or since. It was considered highly suspicious at the time but seems to have been forgotten about quickly. But I've got a long memory.

12 hours ago, kukuryku666 said:

She made a slow album with poetic lyrics, how is it an award hungry record? Nothing sounded like that in 2020, everyone was releasing disco.

Also, what's your point with the pandemic thing? Something happened, she used it to make art, as any other artist, lol

Such albums are Grammy bait because they love "real," "authetic," "genuine" songwriters who write "personal," "heartfelt" lyrics. Loads of pretentious albums win Grammys for this reason. I sometimes think Taylor got sick of losing awards for her last two pop albums and thought if she was ever going to win again, she'd have to create something lowkey and stripped back. I thought the Grammys might think she was trying too hard to win but it might put them off but apparently not.

My point is she could've waited until 2021 to release her pandemic-recorded album, which would've been the year in which she was due a new album anyway. No one was expecting a Taylor album in 2020 but she gave us not one but two. No one who competed with her in 2019 had a chance to breathe. I believe the biggest names should allow their peers room to flourish in between albums, they shouldn't own a monopoly over the most successful album of the year constantly.

[alestevens 118]

11 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

My point is she could've waited until 2021 to release her pandemic-recorded album, which would've been the year in which she was due a new album anyway. No one was expecting a Taylor album in 2020 but she gave us not one but two. No one who competed with her in 2019 had a chance to breathe. I believe the biggest names should allow their peers room to flourish in between albums, they shouldn't own a monopoly over the most successful album of the year constantly.

She wasn't supposed to release an album in 2020 because there was supposed to be a tour which got cancelled for obvious reasons. She said it herself that releasing music is the way she found to stay close to her fans in a moment where not much else could be done. You wouldn't think there was a pandemic going on reading your post about how she should be making plans a year in advance instead.

And your point about her needing to stop releasing music for others to succeed? Not only is it incorrect, as many acts (such as BTS, Ariana Grande, Morgan Wallen, etc) have found success this side of folklore, but also... weird. Literally no one does that, why should Taylor?

[gypsy101 5,453]

On 3/15/2021 at 11:11 AM, Just A Holy Fool said:

Well in the documentary we saw how devastated she was when Reputation got snubbed, so I am sure she is happy. Good for her. I would have personally given it to Future Nostalgia, but folklore is easily Taylor's best album. 

i loved Future Nostalgia because there were bops but as an album on the whole it felt more hollow like there was nothing being said