Do the Grammys accurately represent today’s best music?

By: Andre Jorge and Alexis Almada 


The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards were on Sunday, January 26 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Grammys recognizes the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the year. Sunday night’s show featured several moments of spotlight to Tyler The Creator, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, and Rosalía, some of today’s youngest pop innovators.

Lizzo received the most nominations with eight Grammy nominations, followed by Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X.

When you consider all the Grammy winners of 2020, do you think that their wins will lead to more people listening to their music? Do you think the Grammys are good at representing today’s best music?

We were on the hunt to find out if the Grammys are in fact an accurate example of today's music. We interviewed Mr. Mearman, a teacher at Wethersfield High School, and Antonella DiCenso, a mother of a sophomore athlete, to find out their opinions.

“Absolutely not, because what we listen to on the radio is going to be what people want to hear because that's what’s being requested. Meanwhile, on the Grammys, the people who are winning, I don't even know half the people. I don't recognize some of the songs,” said DiCenso.

“Well, I have to say no, the Grammys don’t accurately represent today’s best music because it’s very narrow,” said Mearman.

The Grammys focuses on the top 40 hits, where a Grammy Award is presented by The Recording Academy to recognize achievements in the music industry.

We also asked about how the Grammys could be improved to better represent today’s music. 

“They should include other types of music, you know not just pop...and they may give awards out to other genres but they don’t ever air it. Air more on TV than just the glitter stars that are obnoxious,” said Mearman.

While interviewing, we narrowed down the Grammy award ceremony to some specific topics like Billie Eilish winning five awards.

Billie Eilish, an 18 year old singer-songwriter, earned six Grammy nominations and five wins including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. She became the first artist to win the major four categories since Christopher Cross in 1981.

With all of Eilish’s wins at the Grammys, does this mean that she’s a good representation of today’s best music? 

“I don’t think she’s that good. Gee, well I could be really snotty and say she’s a good representation of today’s music, because today’s music is not that good,” said Mearman.

 “It depends on what they are being nominated for and what they are winning for. Sometimes I feel like some artists are the ‘Flavor of the day,’ and other times this artist is outdoing everybody else and should be winning and getting it all,” said DiCenso.

What do you think? Were any of your favorite artists nominated? 

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