Tag Archives: Bruno Mars

Grammys

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance – My Predictions

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance Nominees:

  • “Ship to Wreck” – Florence + The Machine
  • “Sugar” – Maroon 5
  • “Uptown Funk” – Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
  • “Bad Blood” – Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar
  • “See You Again” – Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth

Who Should Win: “Bad Blood” – Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar

While Florence Welch’s voice in “Ship to Wreck,” like anything she sings, is pure gold, and while “Uptown Funk” and “See You Again” were perhaps the anthems of 2015, “Bad Blood” has the most cohesive collaborative nature to it.  The song emits the anger and frustration through Swift’s parts but it is even more enforced by Lamar’s sharp raps and attitude.  Swift and Lamar come from two different worlds (the former from the country-pop, the latter from rap/hip hop), and yet they can cohesively make a song together.  If you read the collaboration on paper before listening to it, it would look like a joke and like it shouldn’t work.  But it fits like a glove.

Who Will Win: “See You Again” – Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth or “Uptown Funk” – Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars

If we vote based on which song is the biggest, it would be a tie between “See You Again” and “Uptown Funk” (although, I was reading in Billboard that “Uptown Funk” was the number one song of 2015 by a significant margin), so it’s close which one will win.  I, again, think “See You Again” will win simply for the fact it’s an ode to the late Paul Walker…I also think it’s this reason why it will win the Golden Globe and get nominated and win the Academy Award.  I’m not suggesting it’s not a good song or isn’t deserving of any recognition, it just has that aspect of it to make it shine a little brighter in a group of close nominees.

Grammys

Record of the Year – My Predictions

Record of the Year Nominees:

  • “Uptown Funk” – Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
  • “Blank Space” – Taylor Swift
  • “Thinking Out Loud” – Ed Sheeran
  • “Really Love” – D’Angelo And The Vanguard
  • “Can’t Feel My Face” – The Weeknd

Who Should Win: “Blank Space” – Taylor Swift

If I were a Grammy voter, I would determine my vote for Record of the Year by looking at the production of the song, the performance, the message, and it’s impact in music and pop culture.  I would see which song left it’s mark and would essentially be remembered in the future.  Essentially which song was embraced the most by listeners (which is why “Shake it Off” should’ve won last year…anyway…).

This year is full of songs that each fulfill those qualities, but my vote goes to “Blank Space” because it has, I would say, the most unique production style and is structured perfectly to transcend the joke.  Also, I think it has the most impact on pop culture because we still refer to it, it’s still on radio, and it’s music video still gets views on YouTube.  Meanwhile, I don’t think I’ve heard “Uptown Funk” for over a year.

 

Who Will Win:  “Can’t Feel My Face” – The Weeknd.

Like I said before, this is a close category and I could see most of these nominees winning.  “Can’t Feel My Face” is no different because it features a great bass lines and drum beats that sets it apart, plus I think The Weeknd’s lower register vocals grabs the listener in.  Also, it just fits a pattern I kind of noticed over the past few winners, style wise.

I will say that “Uptown Funk” is a close second to “Can’t Feel My Face” in terms of likelihood of winning…but I felt I should put my money on one song…. I’m 60% “Can’t Feel My Face” and 40% “Uptown Funk.”

 

Grammys

My 2016 Grammy Nominations Predictions

The 2016 Grammy nominations are being announced Monday and I decided to list out my predications of who might be nominated like I do every year.  The list is not complete, these are just brain waves I had and wanted to put out there.

Album of the Year

1989 – Taylor Swift

To Pimp a Butterfly – Kendrick Lamar

The Beauty Behind the Madness – The Weeknd

If You Reading This It’s Too Late – Drake

Song of the Year

“Blank Space” by Max Martin, Shellback, and Taylor Swift (Taylor Swift, artist)

“See You Again” by DJ Frank E, Charlie Puth, Wiz Khalifa, and Andrew Cedar (Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth, artists)

“Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge (Ed Sheeran, artist)

“Here” by Andrew “Pop” Wansel, Isaac Hayes, Warren “Oak” Felder, Alessia Caracciolo, Terence Lam, Samuel Gerongco, Robert Gerongco, and Coleridge Tillman (Alessia Cara, artist)

“Glory” by John Stephens, Lonnie Lynn, and Che Smith (John Legend feat. Common, artists)

“Girl Crush” by Lori McKenna, Hillary Lindsey, and Liz Rose (Little Big Town, artist)

“Fight Song” by Rachel Platten and Dave Bassett (Rachel Platten, artist)

Record of the Year

“Blank Space” or “Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar)” by Taylor Swift

“Here” by Alessia Cara

“Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran

“Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars

“See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth

“Can’t Feel My Face” by The Weeknd

“FourFiveSeconds” by Rihanna feat. Kanye West and Paul McCartney

“Fight Song” by Rachel Platten

Best New Artist

Meghan Trainor

Hozier

Elle King

The Weeknd

Tori Kelly

Walk the Moon

Fetty Wap

Sam Hunt

Best Pop Vocal Album

1989 – Taylor Swift

Title – Meghan Trainor

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful – Florence and the Machine

Beauty Behind the Madness – The Weeknd

Honeymoon – Lana Del Rey

Best Pop Solo Performance

“Blank Space” by Taylor Swift

“Lips Are Movin'” by Meghan Trainor

“Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeran

“Here” by Alessia Cara

“Fight Song” by Rachel Platten

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

“Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars

“Bad Blood” by Taylor Swift feat. Kendrick Lamar

“Like I’m Gonna Lose You” by Meghan Trainor feat. John Legend

“See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth (*they may put this under the Rap category)

Best Song Written For a Visual Media

From Selma, “Glory” by John Stephens, Lonnie Lynn, and Che Smith (John Legend feat. Common, artists)

From Furious 7, “See You Again” by DJ Frank E, Charlie Puth, Wiz Khalifa, and Andrew Cedar (Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth, artists)

From Spectre, “Writing’s on the Wall” by Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes (Sam Smith, artist).

Anyway, those are the thoughts I had at the moment and I’ll add to it until Monday when they release the official list.  Some of these probably won’t be nominated, but I figure they deserve a shout out because they were great in 2015.  Just as a fun fact, Adele cannot be nominated this year for “Hello” or 25 because both were released well outside the nomination period.  She’ll definitely be nominated for the 2017 Grammys.

#PhillipRadio, Music

Apple Picking Playlist

Whenever my family and I do something and take a road trip, I always make a cd with different songs.  Since we’re going apple picking tomorrow, I made this playlist for our ride, so I thought I’d share…especially because it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged…this semester is legit killing me (#stressed).  Normally I put upbeat/happy songs and a wide range of genres on the playlists for my family so there’s something for everyone, but I think I kind of dropped the ball on this one.  Oh well. I’m an artist.

If you’re wondering why I randomly added “Ew!,” the Jimmy Fallon skit/song, my family like Jimmy Fallon…so it was meant as a joke…although I do think the song is actually quite good because of will.i.am’s production.  Plus, Jimmy Fallon rapping as a teenage girl is hilarious.

#PhillipsSongOfTheDay, Music

Taylor Swift’s “Lucky” #PhillipsSongOfTheDay

I have this weird thing where I will wake up with a song playing in my head.  For the past week or so, it’s been “The Lucky One” by Taylor Swift.  I’m not entirely sure why, but I went back to listen to it, and I’m again blown away by Swift’s incredible songwriting, making it #PhillipsSongOfTheDay.

Taylor Swift is one of the greatest songwriters there is.  Since the release of her self-titled debut album in 2006, Swift has been knocking my socks off with her ability to created incredible melodies, hooks, and stories.  When I first heard her song “Teardrops On My Guitar,” I remember putting it on repeat and just being kind of in awe.  I’ve always had a passion for stories and music, but I never really realized that songwriting was putting them together.  My musical training only dealt with classical music (I’ve been playing the violin and cello since I was five), and my definition of music was pretty much going to orchestra and playing music from the 1600s (or whenever Bach and Mozart were alive).  I didn’t live a sheltered life; my parents were exposing me to all types of music since my birth (I still remember being like two and my mom playing a  Pat Benatar record for me), but I never fully realized that pop/rock/country music was in fact…music.  I know, it sounds incredibly stupid.  But, Taylor Swift is one of the few artists who writes all her music, and every song she writes is it’s own story.  She’s not here to make a political statement or preach to people on how to live their lives (like some other artists); she’s here to speak her truths through music.  Which I think is beautiful.

“The Lucky One” is truly an example of Taylor Swift’s superior songwriting and story-telling ability.  The story starts out describing a character moving out to L.A. in search of fame, and it actually working out.  Fast forward a little bit, and the character isn’t so happy with their new found fame, especially with having to deal with the press and with “feel[ing] used.”  We finally learn at the end that the character escapes fame, and “disappears.”  It has been speculated that this song is about Joni Mitchell, a music goddess and one of Swift’s inspirations.

The intriguing thing about these lyrics is the fact that Swift has this pre-chorus that she modifies throughout the song to magnify the character’s changing attitude.  For example, in the beginning, the character is excited about their success, and Swift sings “Another name goes up in lights, like diamonds in the sky,” (i.e. it’s a beautiful, incredible thing).  Then, in the second verse, the character isn’t so happy, and Swift modifies this lyric to be “Another name goes up in lights, you wonder if you’ll make it out alive.”  Finally, during the bridge, Swift relates to this character and sings, “Because now my name is up in lights, but I think you got it right.”  It’s just cool that she’s keeping the lyrical content consistent but changing ever so slightly.

This song is also classic Swift because she manages to create unique, intriguing lyrics that subtly rhyme.  Read the first verse:

“New to town with a made up name in the angel city,
Chasing fortune and fame.
And the camera flashes, make it look like a dream.
You had it figured out since you were in school.
Everybody loves pretty, everybody loves cool.
So overnight you look like a sixties’ queen.”
Does it appear that Swift is rhyming her words?  Not really.  She is just telling the story the way it needs to be told, and it naturally rhymes; she doesn’t sacrifice the integrity of the story to get it to rhyme.  Some artists, though, painfully make their songs rhyme.  A song that’s a classic example with this flaw is Bruno Mars’ song “Grenade.”  Take the line from that song, “Oh, I would go through all this pain/ Take a bullet straight through my brain.”  Colloquially, we would never say “I take a bullet straight through my brain,” we would say “take a bullet to the head” or perhaps even “chest” or “heart.”  The brain is never really an organ or body part that is referenced in everyday language.  Yet, the writers of “Grenade” (which I think Mars is one of them) chose to make this sacrifice for the song, and it’s just…awkward.  Another example from that song is when Mars sings “I’d catch a grenade for you/Throw my hand on a blade for you.”  Again, who refers to knives or shape objects as blades?  It just seems too forced to me.  Meanwhile, in “The Lucky One,” Swift writes “Now it’s big black cars, and Riviera views/ And your lover in the foyer doesn’t even know you.”  Here is a clever rhyme of “view” and “you;” it’s not forced, it’s natural.  She’s painting a scene of staying a swanky hotel and feeling lonely; she’s using common language, instead of taking liberties and forcing words to work.
As for the music within the song, the guitar strumming and steady drum gives the song a nice thought-provoking, yet real, air to it.  I’m not too thrilled with Jeff Bhasker’s production.  Compared to her other songs, this production quality is “eh, okay.”  I mean, I don’t really understand the ten seconds in the beginning of dead air.  The song, while great, would have been better if Swift worked with her usual co-producer Nathan Chapman, or perhaps co-produced it with Bhasker.  Bhasker’s production just doesn’t really feel like Swift.  Take a listen, let me know what you think:
“The Lucky One,” by Taylor Swift
You don’t need to be a swiftie or a big T. Swift fan to like her music or appreciate good songwriting.  Honestly, just spend an hour with Taylor on any of her albums, and you might find yourself standing in line for one of her concerts.  She’s that good.