Suggested Sounds: The Grammys hit a high note

The annual Grammy Awards are arguably the most significant night for the music industry. 

Between the “Big Four” awards — Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist — being exclusively given to Black and queer artists, and artists using the platform to urge everyone watching to follow their passions and stand up for themselves this year, the 67th show was definitely a night to remember.

Last year was a monumental one for music, with Chappell Roan becoming a cultural phenomenon, Charli XCX giving us a “Brat Summer,” Taylor Swift concluding her two-year long Eras Tour and Kendrick Lamar giving us the diss track to end all diss tracks with “Not Like Us.”

The Big Four awards are always highly anticipated because they transcend genre and focus on pinpointing the best overall music and musicians. 

Lamar received a whopping five Grammys on Sunday, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Not Like Us.” By receiving two of the Big Four awards, he secured his spot as one of the top artists of 2024.

The next Big Four award went to none other than Roan. She swept the nation last year as an overnight sensation, and the culminating moment of her success was winning Best New Artist.

Beyoncé made history this year as the first Black woman to ever win Best Country Album for “Cowboy Carter.” She also snagged the last Big Four Grammy, Album of the Year.

Doechii also made history by winning Best Rap Album for “Alligator Bites Never Heal.” She joined Lauryn Hill and Cardi B as one of the only three female winners of this award in the award show’s past. 

Other big names won awards, with Charli XCX winning three awards and Sabrina Carpenter winning two. 

The way the awards were distributed this year gave me hope that the music industry is moving away from being a white- and heteronormative-dominated space.

Typically, we see the Recording Academy turn a blind eye when it comes to truly celebrating and awarding both queer artists and artists of color, so seeing the Big Four awards given to exclusively queer and black artists was an inspiring change of pace that I hope becomes a consistent trend with the awards.

There were also a few artists who were snubbed this year — as there always is — but surprisingly the two artists who walked away with nothing were Swift and Billie Eilish and. Swift had six nominations, and Eilish had seven, so it is shocking that neither of them won anything. 

Eilish and Swift are, in my opinion, two of the biggest artists in the music industry today. They both had wildly successful tours in 2024, and their newest albums were both big successes, so it was really puzzling to see them walk away with nothing.

Additionally, due to the devastating wildfires that swept across Los Angeles County, California, the Recording Academy decided to turn the show into a platform to raise money for those who lost their homes to the fires. 

The Grammys also dedicated part of its commercial ad space to local businesses to raise money to rebuild after the fires. This is huge for the relief aid fund and for those benefiting from it, because award shows are seen by millions of people across the world. 

By centering the biggest night in music on giving back and supporting our fellow humans, the Grammy Awards were able to become bigger than just a celebration of great music and turn into an event focused on giving back. 

The evening was also very female-driven with stand out performances from Eilish, Roan, Doechii, Carpenter, Cynthia Erivo and Charli XCX, just to name a few. As a whole, 2024 was a big year for female artists, so it’s heartening to see the Grammy Awards take note of that.

Besides being a historic night in music due to the barriers broken by some of the winners, the 67th Grammy Awards also provided a broad platform for some of the winners to leave a real impact on all the viewers.

In her acceptance speech for Best Rap Album, Doechii urged her audience to continue following their dreams and not allow stereotypes to be projected onto them. Additionally, Lady Gaga advocated for trans visibility, and Chappell Roan called out record labels for not supporting their developing artists, demanding record labels give their artists better benefits and support.

In general, we have recently been seeing more and more artists use their platform to incite change for the better, and I’m so glad these artists seized their opportunity on this global platform to advocate for mistreated and underrepresented groups.