In this week’s handle with care, my GRAMMYs rundown! Plus, an important Love Island update, and the first reactions to Barbie.
I hope you’re not sick of GRAMMYs discourse by now, because I have yet to make my opinions known!!!! First off, there were two big headlines by the end of the night. Beyoncé became the most-awarded artist in GRAMMY history during the live ceremony. She won Best Electronic/Dance Album for Renaissance, giving her her 32nd win.
The second headline, and most shocking is that she lost Album of the Year for a fourth time. Not even my free For Your Consideration newsletter could change anyone’s mind! Disregard for a moment the fact that she lost to Harry Styles, who in my objective opinion had the third best album released in 2022 among those nominated. There’s a much bigger story when you think about how Beyoncé could’ve lost again.
Entertainment journalist Kaitlyn McNab wrote this all-encompassing article for Teen Vogue on why Beyoncé should have won AOTY for Renaissance, and how Black artists in particular have been slighted at this awards show. We know that she’s lost out on the biggest prize to white artists four times now, so it’s honestly ironic that she can be this highly decorated without an AOTY win. I loved this quote in McNab’s story from Rolling Stone staff writer Larisha Paul:
Leading up to the GRAMMYs, I thought AOTY would be a battle between Beyoncé and Bad Bunny. Both artists defined the year culturally!
Was Bad Bunny’s recent behavior the perfect excuse to steer voters away? A 70-year-old voter was quoted in Variety saying, “With Beyoncé, the fact that every time she does something new, it’s a big event and everyone’s supposed to quake in their shoes — it’s a little too portentous.” Similarly, a voter in her thirties said that she felt Beyoncé has “already won a lot of GRAMMYs.” Those lines of thinking are just really odd to me, and I feel like voters for every institution like this should put their biases aside, and really be thoughtful about their decisions.
I’m happy Styles won and excited about how far he’s come, but I can also be disappointed in Beyoncé’s lack of recognition. It’s way more than stan wars on Twitter (he made sure to say he recognized his privilege when he swept the Brit Awards yesterday), or that crazy-ass stan roundtable segment they did for the ceremony!! Which BTW, I thought was good because now I know how annoying I sound all the time. Toning it down now!!
GRAMMY Fashion: Monochrome Ruled
There wasn’t a lot to like on the red carpet this year, if I’m being honest. But! I did have two looks that I enjoyed:
Olivia Rodrigo presented Best New Artist at the ceremony, and she wore a custom Miu Miu black sheer gown, and Tiffany & Co. jewels. It’s been interesting to see her style develop over the past couple of years, and I feel like this is a good direction for her. It’s trendy and young, but not too over the top.
Steve Lacy had my favorite menswear look of the night. He wore a custom YSL suit and even matched with his mom, who was his plus one. I enjoyed the styling, but my favorite part was the shoes. More men should have this much fun with their accessories.
Chelsea’s ✨GRAMMY Highlights✨
Taylor Swift being Latina during Bad Bunny’s performance, and generally just having a lot of fun throughout the whole thing.
Lizzo becoming the first Black woman to win Record of the Year for “About Damn Time” since Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.”
Beyoncé x Taylor moment!!!
Kim Petras becoming the first transgender artist to win in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category.
Beyoncé arriving late to the GRAMMYs. But she’s a Virgo, so maybe she was actually on time and everyone else was really early?
Speaking of Beyoncé
The Renaissance World Tour is official.
It will kick off in Stockholm in May, and end in New Orleans at the end of September. She also just added a birthday show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA.
For my Love Island hive
Molly Mae and Tommy Fury had their baby, and they named her Bambi. Which, for a child who will grow up wealthy and probably won’t have to worry about her name costing her opportunities, is perfect.
Also! I’m watching the current season on Hulu and I am part of the Zara Defense League. I really liked her with Tom, but he lost me in the episode with the dares game. I better see a new hottie in there that’s all for Zara soon or I will start hissing at people <3
Best Picture 2024 incoming
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie was recently screened for the first time, and is receiving rave reviews. It’s hailed as “fiercely feminist” and “playfully and blissfully political without being heavy-handed.” Ryan Gosling’s performance is also said to be one of his best.
I have been writing away recently, and I feel lucky to have the work opportunities I’m getting! I recently wrote a reported feature on the lack of enthusiasm from Latinx parents on influencer and other creative careers, and interviewed the CEO of bath and body brand Nopalera on her experience on Shark Tank.
I can’t wait to watch Rihanna’s halftime show later, and I will probably listen to the new Paramore album again!! Thanks so much for reading, and for hopefully not noticing I wasn’t in your inbox last week!!