They call it “Music’s Biggest Night” for a reason. This year the Grammy Awards lived up to their moniker. Musical artists, celebrities, producers, above & below the line talent all descended upon the Crypto Arena in Los Angeles to celebrate the musical achievements of 2022. Trevor Noah hosted this years festivities. It’s undeniable that Latin and Urban music made it’s mark on the event. We curated the highlights. Check them out here.
Bad Bunny
The reggaetonero kicked off the Grammy Awards. In his opening performance he performed a salsa inspired medley of hits from his monster album, “Un Verano Sin Ti”. But Benito also repped Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic with a procession including salsa dancers and giant puppets resembling Puerto Rican icons like Roberto Clemente and Hector Lavoe. The performance was such a hit it even had Taylor Swift and Jack Harlow getting their merengue on.
But Benito wasn’t finished there. He picked up a Grammy for Best Música Urbana dedicating the award to Puerto Rico.
Jennifer Lopez
J.Lo graced the Grammys to present the first award of the night. Sans green Versace dress.
She presented Best Pop Vocal Album to Harry Styles. Even Harry seemed star struck. Less so however was her husband Ben Affleck. The interwebs are having a field day with the latest Affleck meme. While his wife was enjoying the night and dancing in the aisles. Dude looked like he got dragged to the in-laws for 4th of July weekend, when all he wanted to do was catch the Red Sox-Yankees game! Ayyy, pobresito.
Beyonce Makes Grammy History
Queen Bey took her place among Grammy GOATS. Becoming the artist with the most Grammys of all time. Although many felt she was snubbed for Album of the Year. Her win for Best Dance/Electronic Music Album garnered her 32nd Grammy. That is a lot of hardware.
And So Does Kim Petras
Sam Smith and Kim Petras won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Unholy”. In the process Petras became the first openly transgender woman to win the award. In her acceptance speech Petras said “I just want to thank the incredible transgender legends before me who kicked these doors open so I could be here.” It was well deserved and long overdue moment.
Hip-Hop Turns 50
That’s right! The musical genre derided by America’s Greatest Generation and a fair share of Boomers is 50. How’s that for staying power. And like any 50th birthday party friends old and new came to celebrate. The show paid tribute to the genre kicking off with honoring Dr. Dre with the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, with DRE serving as the inaugural recipient. Then it weaved seamlessly into a medley that spanned the five decades of the genre with performances by the likes of Curtis Blow, Sugar Hill Gang, Salt & Peppa, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan, Busta Rhymes, Ice-T, and countless others. Curated by Questlove it was clearly the highlight performance of the night.
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