As if his tragic and unexpected death back in September wasn’t bad enough, Sunday’s 61st Annual Grammy Awards made matters even worse for Mac Miller’s family.
Nominated for best rap album of the year, Miller’s “Swimming,” which gave an inside look to the late rapper’s psyche and included lines like “isn’t it funny? We can make a lot of money, buy a lot of things just to feel a lot of ugly,” ultimately lost to Cardi B’s “Invasion of Privacy,” which featured stunning wordplay with lines like “came through drippin’ (drip drip)” repeated 33 times throughout one song.
While Cardi B’s win made history, being the first solo female artist to win best rap album and impressively took the title with her debut studio album, history should’ve belonged to Miller and his family last Sunday.
Plenty of people have won posthumous awards at the Grammys. On Sunday, Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, who took his own life in May of 2017, won in the best rock performance category, and David Bowie’s 25th studio album “Blackstar,” released two days prior to his death, picked up five wins at the 59th annual Grammys in 2017.
Clearly, based on Cardi B’s win over albums like “Swimming” and Pusha T’s “Daytona,” the Grammys aren’t about the music, but more or less about the shock value and hype that surrounds an artist and particular project.
The Grammys, which claims to honor achievements in music, didn’t do much to honor the achievements of Miller having one of the rawest, most telling rap albums of recent years.
Sure, Miller was included in the memorial tribute they do every year honoring those who have passed and the broadcast briefly scanned his parents in the crowd who were ready to accept the award on their son’s behalf if he won, but was that enough for the late rapper?
At 26, Miller still probably had a way to go to transcend music the way artists like George Michael, Prince and David Bowie did in order to have tribute performances in their memories, but Miller’s legacy will surely surpass his short lifespan.
To be able to make music during the “K.I.D.S.” and “Best Day Ever” weed-induced days for rowdy teens sneaking alcohol in their parent’s basements to laying his vulnerabilities out on the table for the world to see on his last few projects is something few artists have done or will ever be able to do over the course of a career.
While I think “Swimming” was undoubtedly the top rap album of the year, that’s just my opinion. Even if the selection committee thought otherwise, though, the award still belonged to Miller and his family. Not necessarily because “Swimming” had the most profound impact on rap, but just as a way of the music world, which the Grammy’s represents, to show some respect to the rapper who’s done so much for the genre.
Should he have won the award? That may not be the overall general consensus, and obviously a trophy on a mantel wouldn’t bring him back, but a little more recognition would have been nice.
At the end of the day, this isn’t about music. I mean, if it was, Cardi B would’ve had about a 0.0 percent chance of winning the award. While she did give a shout out to Miller backstage after the show, saying she would share the award with him, her overall obnoxious demeanor just came off as adding insult to injury.
Miller deserved a little bit more than just a nomination and a few seconds of camera time for his parents. As a household name and cultural icon whose music impacted so many, the 61st Grammy Awards were a slap in the face to the late rapper’s family and his legacy overall.
By Christian Gravius, Staff Writer
graviucc15@bonaventure.edu
