The Grammy Review Literally Nobody Asked For

The 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards aired February 11 on CBS. Despite the doubts that this year’s Grammy awards would be dull, due to lack of attendance from big names, it was quite the opposite. This year’s GRAMMY Award Show had some of the hottest names in music in attendance like Drake, Cardi B, Travis Scott, Post Malone, Dua Lipa, Maren Morris, Janelle Monae, Chloe X Halle, Lady GaGa and so many other pop culture staples.

The show proved to be entertaining, culturally relevant, and an accurate representation of the current state of music. Following the trend of many other award shows, this year’s GRAMMYs felt less stiff and more for the viewers, which was much needed for the Recording Academy after last year’s show received a drop in viewership of nearly 6 million.

Performances wise, the show exceeded expectations. With the buzz surrounding Ariana Grande and her since cancelled GRAMMY’s performance due to a dispute with a producer you would think there would be a shortage of entertaining performances, but that was not the case. Some of our favorite performances included

Travis Scott - NO BYSTANDERS

Cardi B - Money

Chloe X Halle - Where is The Love

Alicia Keys -  Boo’d up, Empire State of Mind

Dan & Shay- Tequila

Fantasia, Yolanda Adams, Andra Day - Aretha Franklin Tribute

JLo- Motown Tribute (because apparently this is supposed to be reflective of an iconic black owned label)

Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and more - Dolly Parton Tribute

Awards : COME GET YOUR REPARATION GRAMMY!

Now, for the awards… The theme of this year's awards was “Reparations”. It felt like The Academy was trying to make amends or apologize for ignoring mainstream music and culture in the past, specifically in the Hip Hop/Rap Genre. So let’s review the categories that matter most to the culture.

Album Of the Year

• Who I Thought Would Win - Dirty Computer - Janelle Monae

• Who I Thought Should’ve Won - Invasion of Privacy - Cardi B

• Who Won - Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves. Don't know, don’t care…

My prediction for this year’s Album of the Year was Janelle Monae’s ‘Dirty Computer, based on signals from The Academy that they were focusing on female empowerment at this year’s award, along with the fact that 6/8 of the albums nominated were hip hop or R&B albums. Unfortunately, this years AOTY seemed to be another chance for the Grammy’s to send a message to hip hop acts that their genre of music is not the most important in the eyes of The Academy (whoever the fuck that is lol). I choose Cardi B’s ‘Invasion of Privacy’ as AOTY due to the fact that we know the Grammys is all politics and it seems the most politically correct. Cardi B, without a doubt, had the biggest year in music. Cardi had reach outside of the Rap genre and while I thought she was the most deserving of this award, we all know the GRAMMYs hates giving hip hop artists AOTY... Do we need to bring up Lemonade and Beyonce's absence since then, or nah?

Best New Artist

• Who I Thought Would Win - HER

• Who I Thought Should’ve Won - Greta Van Fleet

• Who Won - Dua Lipa… I guess?

This year’s Best New Artist went to Dua Lipa. This award was very special as it was the only award that legitimately made me laugh out loud. I predicted that Best New Artist would go to  H.E.R simply because the GRAMMYs love to act like they have no clue who R&B/hip hop artists are until after the height of their success. Some of the songs on H.E.R.’s album that the GRAMMYs are trying to seem woke about have been out for almost two full human years. With the announcement of Dua Leap Frog’s win, I guess The Academy didn’t want to pay their reparations in this category. My pick for best new artist was Greta Van Fleet simply because there is a 12 year old girl with an angelic rock voice living inside the lead singer of this band and I thought the world should’ve witnessed that on the GRAMMY stage.

Record of the Year-

• Who I Thought Would Win - This is America - Childish Gambino

• Who I Thought Should’ve Won - This is America - Childish Gambino

• Who Won - Dua Lipa… This is America - Childish Gambino

THIS IS AMERICA. DON’T CATCH YOU SLIPPING NOW (whoa).

Best R&B Album

• Who I Thought Would Win - H.E.R. -  H.E.R.

• Who I Thought Should’ve Won -  H.E.R. - H.E.R.

• Who Won - H.E.R. -  H.E.R.

H.E.R. is one of the best R&B artist in the game right now. PERIODT. I just find it funny how the GRAMMYs decide to recognize her so late. This happens often with categories The Academy don’t care enough about to pay attention to. Lazy and broke, but she got this GRAMMY so I guess I can’t complain.

Best R&B Song

• Who I Thought Would Win - Boo’d Up - Ella Mai

• Who I Thought Should’ve Won - Boo’d Up - Ella Mai

• Who Won - Boo’d Up -  Ella Mai

Oooooouuuuuuu and I’ll never get over this song until I find something new, that makes me sing like this song does. The recognition of this song was rather late, but I won't shade The Academy because the life of this song was weird. The song was originally released on an EP Ella Mai put out in 2017, but the song wouldn't take off until this past summer when Meek Mill posted a video of him and all his celebrity friends jamming out to the song at a pool party shortly after his release from prison. This song slaps… Hard.

Best Rap Album

• Who I Thought Would Win - Swimming - Mac Miller

• Who I Thought Should’ve Won - Victory Lap - Nipsey Hussle

• Who Won - Invasion of Privacy - Cardi B

I don't think Cardi B deserved Best Rap Album. I think she deserved Album of the Year. Cardi indeed deserves a GRAMMY win for her successful year in music, but I think the GRAMMYs gave her Best Rap Album to send a message. The message being no matter how successful you are The Recording Academy will not recognize you as being the most important if you come from the rap genre. The last rap act to win AOTY was Outkast in 2004. Meanwhile, y'all gassing this shit up as if she won AOTY, which she deserved and The Academy basically exploited her for views. Go off though about your weird hatred for Nicki Minaj, who is, indeed, a much better rapper than Cardi B lol. Fake rap fans love consuming Black culture when it’s not coming from someone who is actually Black and it shooooows. The negative comments about Offsets’ appearance, an extremely successful rapper in his own right, further proves my point. You been a fan since Bodak Yellow... Weirdos are culture vultures and it shoooows. LET ME MAKE THIS CRYSTAL CLEAR. RAP WILL ALWAYS BE BLACK CULTURE. MADE FOR US. BY US.

I predicted Mac Miller’s ‘Swimming’ would win Best Rap Album because I thought The Academy had a heart… I was big wrong. Rap critics have already declared Nipsey Hussle’s ‘Victory Lap’ as Best Rap Album of 2018. The story of ‘Victory Lap’ is in the title. Nipsey sounds like a winner on this album displaying confidence on every track. My favorite thing about Nipsey Hussle is his lack of gimmicks to achieve notoriety. He didn't need to do a Drake diss record to get attention…. Cough, cough… Pusha T… Cough, cough. Because Nipsey’s music fared well on it’s own.

Best Rap Song-

• Who I thought would win- God’s Plan- Drake

• Who I Thought should’ve won - God’s Plan - Drake

• Who Won - God’s Plan- Drake

As Drake clearly stated, the GRAMMYs are all about politics. Luckily for him the GRAMMYs saw it politically correct to award the most successful rapper in the last decade with Best Rap Song. Yay! They did something right.

Best Pop Vocal Album-

• Who I Thought Would Win - Sweetener - Ariana Grande

• Who I Thought Should’ve Won - Sweetener - Ariana Grande

• Who Won - Sweetener - Ariana Grande

• When Hell Freezes Over and Tonya Harding becomes the president of US Figure Skating -  Reputation - Taylor Swift.

The thing about Ariana Grande is that even at her worst she still comes out on top. A whirlwind year in 2018 saw Grande learn from the pain and turn out amazinnn’. Sweetener serves as Ariana’s ode to the sweet side of life and really had no competition other than T*ylor Sw*ft, who was “snubbed” from AOTY. .

The controversy surrounding Ariana Grande and her beef with Grammy producers seemed to not bug The Academy that much, and with the release of her fifth studio album (second album released in less than six months) ‘thank u, next’ released on the eve of the awards, we can see way more GRAMMYs in Grande’s future.

Thanks for reading my review that nobody asked for. Until the Oscars... stay crazy, mentalists.

Future Drops new Album “The WIZRD”, Opens up about Co-Parenting with Ciara

On Friday trap music’s reigning king released his seventh studio album “The WIZRD” as the final installment of his Epic records contract. The Atlanta rapper released 20 songs with features from trap heavy hitters Young Thug, Travis Scott, Metro Boomin, Gunna and much more. With strong production memorable melodies and a distinctive flow ‘The WIZRD’ delivered on everything Future fans love and have come to expect. The highly anticipated album was rolled out with two pre-released singles ‘Crushed up’ and ‘Jumpin on a jet’, along with a lengthy press run we haven’t received from the rapper in a while.

With the release of ‘The WIZRD’ Future appears to be entering a phase of being more open with his fans when it comes to his personal life. In the process of turning over this new leaf of transparency it looks like Russell Wilson and Ciara have caught some shade.

A day Before the release of ‘The WIZRD’ Future appeared on Beats 1 Radio with his long time friend and fellow Atlanta artist ‘Big Bank Black’. During the interview Future was asked about his ex-fiance Ciara, specifically his relationship with his ex’s current husband NFL quarterback Russell Wilson. Future had this to say:

"He do exactly what she tell him to do," he said. "He not being a man in that position. He not tellin' her, 'Chill out with that on the internet. Don't even talk to him. I'm your husband! You better not even bring Future's name up!' If that was me, she couldn't even bring his name up. She know that. She couldn't even bring her exes' names up. I don't what they gave you. Don't give that s*** no energy."

Future goes on to explain during the interview that the foundation of the relationship between himself and Wilson was rocky from the start due to the Seahawks quarterback being introduced to his son without his permission.

Ciara fans were quick to clapback pointing to a 2015 interview Ciara did with CBS Morning, claiming she reached out to Future for him to meet Russell Wilson to which the Rapper was unresponsive. While fans were quick to defend Ciara, Russell Wilson responded by posting a picture of Sienna (his daughter with Ciara) and Future Jr embracing each other on Instagram with the caption: “All that matters #Love”.

Opinion:

First things first let's talk about the music. Here at Popmental a 20 song tracklist from the wrong artist can be cause for concern, but with Future that is far from the case. This is the man that gave us a double album with more hits than we can handle, need I remind you! What’s impressive about ‘The WIZRD’ specifically is how Future sticks to his well known production formula, but manages to address his life in the public eye in a very intentional way. On ‘The WIZRD’ Future’s flows are being delivered to fans crystal clear, compared to the “mumble” rap he is typically criticized for.

Future appears to reflect on past experiences that have made him the artist he is today, in a way Future fans aren’t used to hearing the rapper express himself. The Atlanta native discusses his experience with PTSD on the album’s final track ‘Tricks on me’ , as well as discusses surviving poverty on the albums 12th track ‘Krazy but True’. Overall I think ‘The WIZRD’ will turn out to be wildly popular amongst Future’s dedicated fan base.

On the flip side when it comes to Futures home life and parenting skills….. WHEW CHILLAY. For someone who is known for keeping his private life private I think opening up about his co-parenting relationship with Ciara in the way he did will do nothing positive for his son. With 6 different baby mothers the most stable life Future jr can have is with Ciara and Russell. Instead of being bitter about that, I think he could have celebrated the blended family and realize Russell will never replace his role as Future jr’s father. Furthermore any man that doesn’t understand why having 6 kids with 6 different women can be problematic, needs to take the advice of my favorite New York Comedians Cat Cohen and Pat Regan and SEEK TREATMENT!

Russell Hornsby provides Oscar Worthy performance in “The Hate U Give”

Over the weekend I decided to go check out the highly anticipated drama “The Hate U Give” accompanied by three of my younger cousins ages ranging from 14-17. The approach taken by George Tillman Jr and Audrey Wells( who passed shortly before the release of the film) to bring this film to life absolutely blew me away. This film touched on so many relevant topics beyond police relations within the black community that it managed to pull 14 year olds away from their devotion to Snap streaks for more than an hour (impressive, I know).

In a time of extreme racial and political polarization ‘The Hate U Give’ delivers an accurate portrayal of the effects America’s troubled history with race has had on communities all over the nation. The film makes it a point to showcase the distinct differences in how the issue of race plays out in certain communities. The story being told by a young teen provides an innocence that allows the characters to be impressionable and make mistakes, something that audiences both young and old can relate to.

In the midst of all the greatness that is this film, Russell Hornsby who plays the father of the films heroine ‘Starr Carter’ had a breakout performance. Hornsby plays Maverick Carter, a devoted father with a checkered past that continues to haunt him and his family. Hornsby opens the film by giving his three pre-adolescent children “the talk” a speech known all too well in the black community about how to interact with the police if you want to live.

Dealing with issues from interracial dating to breaking down the definition of the trap from his own personal experience, Hornsby delivers a feeling of pride in black fatherhood with passion and authenticity that was nothing short of the Oscar worthy stamp! Hornsby was accompanied by an incredible cast making his standout performance that much more impressive.

Lead actress Amandla Stenberg also delivers a powerful performance while addressing the issue of identity in a complexed world as a black teen. Stenberg who plays Starr Carter attends a predominately white private school and is faced with defining her identity when her two worlds collide after the shooting of her childhood friend.

If you’re looking for a film that will make you laugh, cry and clench your fist with suspense all while addressing how Americans of all races have found themselves complacent throughout some of our most inhumane times past and present I would definitely recommend “The Hate U Give”

Kanye West Recent Apperance on TMZ Live

Kanye West appeared on TMZ live yesterday afternoon to discuss his latest political views in a sit down interview with TMZ founder Harvey Levin.

The interview began with West discussing his SNL appearance in which he claims he was bullied for wearing the MAGA hat on stage. Kanye stated in the interview that members of the SNL cast felt uncomfortable going on stage with him due to his decision to wear the hat, but later clarified that the actual bullying came from members of his personal staff.

Following the discussion about his SNL appearance Kanye was asked about his tweets over the weekend about abolishing the 13th amendment which states: “The United States Constitution provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” . The Chicago rapper responded by saying he misspoke and meant to say amend instead of abolish. Does your head hurt yet? Well stick with me because Kanye was far from finished at this point.

In typical Kanye fashion the rapper went on to sporadically discuss running for president in 2024, admits to having little to no knowledge of the US Constitution, and declared Chicago the home of flying cars…..

In an attempt to get the conversation back on track Levin asked Kanye about his recent charity work in Chicago. West claimed he has been working with education leaders in the city to get insight on curriculum that could potentially reduce violence in the city. Kanye had lots to say about his charity organization “Donda’s House” but with his negligence to this organization over the past few years many have been skeptical about his ability to finish what he’s started.

The painfully confusing interview ended with Levin asking Kanye if wearing the MAGA hat was a symbol of his support for Trump. Kanye then seemed stumped by the question taking several long pauses to answer. The TMZ founder then recommended a

commercial break, which sent Kanye into a frenzy. The Chicago native then went on a rant stating “We not gonna Jimmy Kimmel the situation, we’re gonna give me time to think. You asked me a serious question and i’m gonna take some time to think about my answer. Im gonna use time to… MY advantage”.

WHEEEEEEW CHILE, If you’re confused about what exactly Kanye’s political views are you certainly aren’t alone. With our country seemingly in a constant state of chaos lately, let's hope that Kanye is right about one thing. THE UNIVERSE IS ON OUR SIDE!!!

The Wait Is Over

When the clock struck 12 the wait was officially over. A generation of rap fans got to stop holding their breath in anticipation of one of the most important projects from the self proclaimed best rapper alive. Lil Wayne has officially dropped Tha Carter V, the fifth installment of the New Orleans rapper’s Carter series.

The album includes features from industry staples such as Snoop Dogg,Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, and Nicki Minaj. Some unexpected features came from Wayne’s oldest child Reginae Carter, late rapper XXX and the mother of Lil Wayne’s youngest son early 2000’s R&B singer Nivea who recently released a mini documentary on BET.

The highly anticipated album has been six years in the making! Unfortunately those six years consisted of intense drama between Lil Wayne and his long time mentor and Cash Money label owner Brian Matthews (Birdman).‘Tha Carter V’ was first announced after the release of Lil Wayne’s ‘Tha Carter IV’ album back in 2011. 3 years later Wayne and his prodigy Drake would release Believe Me as the lead single for Wayne’s Tha Carter V. Shortly after the single was released Wayne let fans know that his label Cash Money would not allow him to release the album.

Lil Wayne went on to sue Cash Money for $51 Million dollars and the rights to end his deal with Cash Money according to Rolling Stone. After years of Legal disputes and public outcry for Birdman to let Lil Wayne out of his deal, Cash Money and Lil Wayne recently reached a settlement that would allow Tha Carter V to be released. The settlement included an undisclosed amount and Wayne’s ownership of Young Money a previous subsidiary of Cash Money Records, according to Billboard.

As for now the drama is over and rap fans get to enjoy the fruits of Lil Wayne’s labor. If you’ve been anxiously watching Apple music all week in hopes of an early release, you probably already have a few favorite tracks. Checkout some of my favorite tracks so far; Let It All Work Out, Can’t Be Broken, and Dedicate. Tha Carter V can currently be found on all major streaming platforms!

Black-ish X Procter & Gamble

ABC’s critically acclaimed sitcom and my favorite show Black-ish has grabbed the attention of the advertising industry once again with their Procter and Gamble (P&G) partnership. Following the success of their season long partnership with Microsoft, Black-ish’s Stevens and Lido has opened the doors of their fictional agency to work with one of the world's most respected family brands. 

What makes this partnership truly standout is the parallel between Black-ish and P&G’s brand values.The shared brand identity of authentic family values allowed both brands to stay true to themselves, something becoming increasingly more important to today’s educated media consumers. This authentic partnership consist of Black-ish’s fictional agency Stevens and Lido acquiring a Procter and Gamble account with the intentions of tackling “The Talk”. 

Procter and Gamble’s current “The Talk” campaign highlights the conversations African American parents are forced to have with their children about racial bias in the world. P&G does a great job of infiltrating the Black-ish story line by forcing the lead character Andre Johnson to reflect on “The Talk” he had with his parents as a young child. 

P&G takes the plot one step further by forcing all members of the agency to reflect on what version of “The Talk” they received from their parents. The episode ends with the characters within the agency realizing that “The Talk” happens in many walks of life, and the burdens society puts on parents due to bias’. 

To achieve a brand partnership this effective P&G tapped into some valuable insights and strategy. Media buyers and strategist are able to establish Black-ish’s reach in the 18-49 viewer demographic. Nielsen reports a viewership of over 4 million per week for Black-ish.What is interesting about the insights of this partnership is Black-ish’s demographic break down. With a cast of predominantly black actors IndieWire.com  reports that Black-ish’s viewer demographic is over 70% non-black. This allowed P&G the opportunity to reach multiple segments within their primary target market of families.The innovative media buying strategy used by P&G was equally as important to the success of this partnership. 

With the collaborative effort of Rita Ferro, advertising sales president at Disney/ABC Television, BBDO and P&G’s communications agency of record Egami Consulting Group P&G successfully pulled of an innovative media buy known as “plot buying”. This new media buying concept that includes purchasing a spot within a programs storyline is a direct response to the rapidly changing media landscape.With the rise of  non traditional media platforms such as Netflix and DVR features, advertisers are being forced to get around the increase of commercial zapping. P&G has managed to do just that with their partnership with Black-ish.

Cardi B and Nicki Minaj Throwdown at Harper’s Bazaar ICONS Party

Video of Cardi B and Nicki Minaj getting into a physical altercation at the Harper's Bazaar 2018 ICONS party surfaced late Friday night ( September 7,2018) during New York Fashion Week.

Late Friday night while the Twitter world was minding its own business multiple blogs (TMZ, TheShadeRoom, Power Star Live) tweeted out a video they  had received from eyewitnesses at the event. The video shows an altercation in the hallway of the event in which Cardi B is attacking Nicki Minaj’s security in an attempt to get to her. Minaj appears unbothered in the video standing in a corner behind her security.

According to TMZ the altercation began off camera when Cardi B aggressively approached the table where Nicki and her entourage were seated for the event. Both camps managed to diffuse the initial altercation, but Cardi was far from done as we can see in the video.

The two ran into each for the second time that night  in a hallway of the Harper's Bazzar event shortly after their initial encounter, and the Bodak Yellow singer was ready for round two. This time around however, spectators at the event had caught wind of the tension between the two rappers and had their iphones out ready to catch them angles! Video began surfacing on social media of Cardi B attacking Nicki Minaj’s security in an attempt to get to the Queens rapper.

After multiple tries (due to cardi’s experience maneuvering security from her Love and Hip Hop days) Cardi B and her team were escorted out of the party by police. On the way out Cardi can be heard screaming “like some s#!t about my kid again B!#ch”. Leaving many to wonder if that was the reasoning behind the attack. Cardi was pictured leaving the party disheveled with a noticeable knot on her head (which lead to social media users calling the rapper Knoti B), meanwhile Nicki Minaj was photographed leaving the party seemingly untouched.

Immediately following the incident the “Bodak Yellow” rapper took to her Instagram to address the situation.* insert post*

Nicki waited until Monday morning to address the headlines on her Apple music radio show “Queen”. *Insert video*

While keeping my ear to these social media streets as I often do I noticed a few things. A majority of Twitter and Instagram users supported Cardi’s behavior and questioned why Nicki didn’t retaliate. Leading me to believe some of you need a trip down memory lane.

Ten years ago when Nicki entered the music industry women, but black women more than any other were labeled difficult to work with for being assertive. When other black female artist like Azelia Banks for example has lashed out at other artist in the past, she in-turn got blackballed from the entertainment industry for being problematic. Now that another black female artist is practicing restraint she is being labeled “fake”.

As Nicki Minaj states in her hit “No Frauds” I think it’s time for social media users to “Pick a side, pick a side”.

Society wants black women to be strong, but not too strong, smart but not too smart. With that in mind I have a crazy suggestions that might just make you clench your pearls, maybe we should just let black women…. Be!!!  Nicki Minaj conducted herself in a responsible manner in front of her professional peers and I applaud her for that. I believe Nicki has taught us a valuable lesson in the art of war, you can’t be the queen if you step off the throne.

For those of you who are sick of hearing about this story, I suggest you get your tolerance up because this feud has just begun.

When Tommy Met Gigi

In the last  3-5 years, there has been a consistent trend of high-end fashion brands repositioning themselves to appeal to a younger market. To meet this business objective many brands have begun utilizing influencer marketing strategy. We’ve seen it successfully done with Calvin Klein’s user-generated campaign #InMyCalvins, and many brands have followed suit since.One of the most exciting rebranding campaigns taking place in fashion is Tommy Hilfiger's collaboration with supermodel and social media influencer GiGi Hadid.

In 2016 the iconic Hilfiger brand set out to increase market share amongst millennial retail consumers, and brought on model/social media influencer GiGi Hadid to do so. A few years ago if you were to ask millennial consumers how they felt about Tommy Hilfiger they wouldn’t have had much to say, but that all changed when Tommy meet GiGi. 

The Tommy X GiGi collection began in 2016 and consisted of four seasons with a focus on digital strategy. The Hilfiger brand decided in 2016 to launch “TommyNow” with the goal of allowing consumers to buy products instantly from the runway with the use of social media. The success of Tommy Hilfiger’s new digital strategy is largely due to the brand's use of social media influencers. The use of influencer strategy was on full display in the grand finale of the TommyxGiGi collection during their fashion show on Feb 25th in Milan. The show was live streamed on Instagram to Hilfiger’s 6 million followers not to mention the reach of the star-studded roster of influencers.

The show kicked off with GiGi Hadid showing off her own designs, before welcoming her influencer friends and family. GiGi alone brought her 38.6 million instagram followers to the Instagram live stream, but that was simply the beginning. Also in the show was GiGi’s close friend Hailey Baldwin with her 11.2 million followers, Bella Hadid with 17 million followers, Cameron Dallas with 20.8 Million and Diddy’s youngest son Christian Combs who previously worked with Dolce and Gabbana. To fully understand the power of influencer strategy let's look at the numbers.

The use of Hilfiger’s strategic media partnership with Instagram has paid off in a major way during the duration of the ‘TommyNow’ partnership with GiGi Hadid. With the help of Instagram’s e-commerce features the brand has seen substantial growth.Tommy Hilfiger’s Chief Brand Officer Avery Bakery reports a 75% increase in female millennial visitors to tommy.com(www.campaignlive.com).This increase in digital traffic lead to an over $900 million dollar increase in sales for the brand. If there’s one take away from the success of Hilfiger’s rebranding campaign it’s the power of social media platforms on influencing consumer behavior.