Eric Novak, Columnist
This biggest surprise of the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, as usual, was the winner for “Album of the Year.”
The Grammy Awards were broadcasted this past Sunday. There were performances by Sia, Jack Johnson, Demi Lovato and others to round out the star-studded evening.
This year, it ended up going to musical chameleon Beck for his album Morning Phase. As Beck was receiving his award, Kanye West came up to the stage (again) in reference to the 2009 stunt with Taylor Swift, and was later quoted saying that Beck “should have given his award to Beyoncé.”
Being the often ridiculous cultural sensation that he is, I wouldn’t expect people to give his attention seeking actions a second thought. My visit to Facebook told me otherwise, though, as I saw people dividing into two camps on this “issue.”
One camp saw the award as long-deserved for Beck and posted things validating his win and comparing Beyoncé’s music unfavorably to Beck’s music.
The other camp essentially saw Kanye’s decision as right and attacked Beck, saying that Beyoncé was robbed once again, despite her current 20 Grammy awards.
One status even tried to turn it into a feminist issue because Beyoncé was stiffed, despite also saying that the Grammys are a joke. Having not listened to either albums, I’m not going to sit here and debate whether or not the Grammys’ decision was sound.
The point is, the Grammys, much like the Oscars, are unchangeable. No amount of moaning or convulsing is going to change who won what award.
The thing that I think people forget when it comes to music, or any form of art, is that it’s completely subjective.
People can argue amongst themselves which music they think is fundamentally superior, but in the end, it doesn’t matter, because every single person has a slightly different taste in music. Instead of spending our time, trying to justify why our opinion on subjective art is the one that is right and true.
Artists like Beyoncé are not divine beings, and do not have to constantly win awards to be validated for their success and talent, and artists like Beck don’t need to prove to other people why they deserve accolades.
Even though she didn’t win this award, Beyoncé is going to continue being successful and popular for the time being. Beck is probably going to continue doing what he has been doing, which is making the music he wants to make.
As a society, we like to take ownership of our celebrities and when they are somehow stiffed, we get personally offended and attempt to stick up for them, much like a close friend would do. But, these celebrities are not our friends and we, most often, don’t have any personal ties to them whatsoever.
They don’t need us to stick up for them, or for us to try to put down other celebrities in their honor.
So people, relax and enjoy listening to who you want to listen to. Not everyone is going to agree with you, but remember, they don’t have to.