Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z and Bruno Mars led the field with Grammy nominations. When everything shook out, Jay-Z was snubbed for all eight of his nominations, Bruno Mars took home the biggest awards, and Kendrick swept the rap categories – Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Collaboration, for “Loyalty” with Rihanna. Rihanna and Kendrick sat with each other too!! I felt like the Grammys were trying to make it up to Kendrick after botching the chance to give him awards a few years back, when they gave that sh-t to Macklemore. Here’s Kendrick’s opening performance. It was… incredible. Except for Bono, who was utterly unnecessary.
Kendrick Lamar's full performance at the 2018 #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/VG5K88hPQ0
— DUCKWORTH TDE (@DuckworthTDE) January 29, 2018
This, to me, was like the Grammys just ruined it for themselves. I understood why they put Kendrick first, but by putting the strongest performance first, they set the bar too high and they couldn’t keep up with it.
Here are Kendrick & Rihanna winning their Grammy. Do you enjoy how Tony Bennett doesn’t move aside? It’s like Kendrick is thanking him too!
As for Rihanna, she performed “Wild Thoughts” with DJ Khaled. She did the gwara gwara dance and people were just so happy. Can I just say? I love that Rihanna is thicc these days. She looks incredible and she seems so content.
Rihanna DJ Khaled and Bryson performing #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/yIjn65fhrG
— Stav (@Stav_Per) January 29, 2018
Rihanna doing the gwara gwara #Grammys pic.twitter.com/542uQjRXsr
— Mandla Ndawo (@ItsMandla) January 29, 2018
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Rihanna is a timeless beauty. Love her.
WORD.
Best of the night. Having so much fun. Loved it.
This!
She’s amazing, and a great performer too! She never disappoints at her concerts.
Unfortunately, I have seen Riri in concert and it was one of the most disappointing I’ve ever been to: she had the whole audience behind her but was blatantly dialling it in. I can confirm she is absolutely stunning in real life – like ‘from another planet stunning’ though 🙂
aw really?! I’ve seen her 5 times and she was sooo good each time!
She’s so beautiful, but her performances aren’t very engaging for me. She doesn’t really seem like she cares.
The Grammy are becoming irrelevant because they are clueless and refuse to keep up. They seriously need new blood in there.
And by putting the strongest act as an opening act means they realize that probably. They understand that no one will have the patience nor the desire to watch the whole show so why not put all the cards on the table at once? I wish though Bono was not in it. I used to be a fan more that 10 years ago, now though he needs to stay in the past.
Bruno is the bomb and this was one of his best albums. He deserved those wins. Yea Bruno.
It wasn’t necessary because Kendrick can more than carry his own, but U2 was featured on XXX on the album as well, that’s why he was there.
I came for Bruno but I too wish someone would explain Bono.
Now Kendrick, I know he is loved on here and I like him too, but that performance was generic AF. I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. His prior performance was the best. This wasn’t a great opening act.
Generic?!?!
I’m old. I hadn’t watched the Grammys in years because they were always irrelevant and played safe. I watched last night and enjoyed the hell out of the performances. For the Grammys, last night was new blood.
If that’s what’s considered ‘thicc’, I honestly give up. She looks vibrant and healthy.
Thicc is not an insult! It’s a compliment- means full-bodied sexy vibrant woman. Like “stacked” and “brick house” of yore, haha.
Or like my mom would say “she has some more meat on her bones” lol. In French there’s a term that I love : bien enrobée (i.e. nicely enrobed.)
Not an insult at all!
She is thicc, no one said fat but thicc. She’s not slim so thicc is the word and it’s a compliment
I don’t know or care what the word is – Rihanna looks bloody fabulous. Is that her hair or a wig? Whatever, I think it’s the best style she’s ever had. Stunning.
I loooooooove this hairstyle for her.
She looks amazing. The hair, the outfit, HER- beautiful. This is a great look for her.
Kendrick should always open. I mean we remember his last performance right? When he had his dancers in chains? His performance highlights why Kendrick is so important and loved. He uses his talent to highlight what plagues the black community now and how it weaves in from the past. It’s not over it’s just different.
I also laughed because I know there was a ton of white people uncomfortable when he shot every single one of his dancers.
Rihanna getting down like she was at her own house party was one of my favorites.
Kendrick Lamar is above and beyond so many other mainstream artists today. I was transfixed as usual by his performance and presence. What an amazing, amazing artist.
And Rihanna is just absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I love her. And if she’s rockin her tummy pooch in 2018, i’m cancelling the gym and keeping mine too!
Yes! There is something so organic and earthy about Rihanna. Girl gets down and dirty and I love it.
I don’t even listen to hip hop and I LOVE everything I’ve heard from Kendrick! What a great performance last night.
She looks beautiful and happy .
Yes, she does! Beautiful woman.
Lord, Bono annoys me. Seeing those baby pink specs he wears makes me feel stabby.
He wears tinted glasses all the time because he has glaucoma. They help him to see, especially in brightly lit environments.
Their performances last night were life-giving.
I had no idea she was so tall. She made him look fun sized.You expect him to be perfect but given that she is a lazy dancer I cheered wildly when she brought it last night – go RiRi!
He’s only 5’6″
I’m just so happy that POC was shown love at the Grammys this year like Kendrick, Bruno, The Weeknd, Dave Chappelle. So proud of Kendrick and Bruno, when was the last time a person of color won Album and song of the year.
Next year back to Swifty I bet.
I love Kendrick, but that performance was a mess…
Honestly, I could not understand one word that he said. Neither could the closed caption guy on the tv. Meh
I’ve listened to the album so many times that I understood every word…. his performances are infinitely better if you’re already familiar with the song and the themes, because he does mind-blowing things with the imagery in his lyrics.
I am so sorry to say this but RiRi can’t dance. She is just as bad as Mariah Carey. I am going to be honest, I am not a Rihanna fan even though I am a Bajan but I will say she sings better and the performance is ok.
@ Kiki I agree Rihanna can’t sing the dancing wasn’t too bad. Her life performances are always half assed.
Lmao she really can’t OR sing outside a studio, but…eh. I love her. I see she was with that Hassan Jameel guy too after. 👀
Hmmmmm. So this is what a good show looks like. I don’t get it. Lamar is a great great artist, his work is amazing and the dancing around him with the huge light was a big blur.
To me it seemed a really basic choreography (even the dancer dressed in white, which got me a bit excited, was underused) with heavy lighting and boom boom effects to keep us awake.
I guess I am not the audience for this at all. Each their own and all that.
She sounds awful as always, but she does have good stage presence. I admire her confidence even with that voice.
Rihanna Always looks good, but a public performances are not her forte.
She sounded terrible.
+ 1000
She did, honestly. As much as I have sympathy for her it is cringeworthy to go through her live performances.
I thought I was taking crazy pills for a moment there, with everyone saying this was a great song/performance !! Rihanna looked absolutely gorgeous, don’t get me wrong, but I thought that was a rather poor performance all together.
She really is not a great singer live, the rest of the song was extremely meh and uninspiring, and if you are going to use such instantly recognizable music (Maria Maria), you need to have the song be at least as good as the song it’s sampling from!
Ha ha ha YUP.
Saw David Foster speaking recently and even commented on her voice and how she needs a lot of help / production to sound good
I think I get it. I must have. Cos the last part of Lamar’s performance had my eyes tearing up. Not your brother, mother, etc. as shot after shot takes them out. The facking U.S of A!!!!
He is amazing, not just the content of his words but the visuals that he puts with it
Kendrick was awesome. Ri Ri was kind of dull, something that I always feel about her verbal performances ( preparing to get shot for that comment)?
honestly – why is bono.
kendrick featured u2 on his album. that’s why bono is there.
Is anyone else disturbed by the impact on a viewer’s brain when exposed to all this gruesome symbolic imagery? What is great about faceless soldiers marching in step like robotic killing machines with The Flag waving in the background, and stacatto music that sounds like machine gun fire? NOTHING. If they aren’t glorifying death, killing and war, it’s devil worship and human sacrifice (remember Madonna a few years back?). Oh, and naked ladies. I didn’t watch the Grammy’s last night, so this is only the second clip I’ve seen (first was Lady Gaga with the dead angel wings). AWFUL. No beauty, nothing uplifting, grief and death. Meanwhile, all the fakery!! The fugliest overpriced gowns, the makeup-caked female impersonating women… after everything we’ve been through recently… Seriously? I detect no higher consciousness here. I just find it all….sickening. (It’s not just the Grammy’s, I’ve noticed. The Superbowl halftime show and the Olympic opening ceremonies also enact terrible symbology aimed at gruesome mind control of the masses. Please, don’t let it be you.)
I’m not making this up!! It’s really scary, people. https://belsebuub.com/the-symbolic-burning-of-the-knights-templar-at-the-2014-grammy-awards
Oh….wow. Not to humor you, but art is meant to disrupt and doesn’t always have to elicit pleasure or happiness. The “occult” doesn’t have a monopoly on symbolism. I recommend you read a few classic fiction novels, it may expand your imagination.
Honey, put down the drink and go to bed.
satan isn’t real anyway. it’s all just entertainment.
Well your name fits you perfectly….I need more coffee geez
is there a doctor in the house?
I’m like “Ummmm….. what?” It reads like a Christian youtube rant about the illuminati.
Did you even listen to Kendrick’s album? Because he was not “glorifying” death, killing and war at all. In fact, quite the opposite. Much like his performance last year, there’s an explicit commentary on black life in America. It’s a shame that you did not catch that.
No, I didn’t listen to the album and I don’t know his music at all, but I do believe what you are saying @tifzlan. It is somewhat beside the point, though. My point is this: visual symbols work on a deep, unconscious level. Often the imagery used in these performances is vastly different than the original, intended meaning of a song. A good example of this phenom can be found in the link I posted above, analyzing a Katy Perry Grammy performance. Comments on that linked article are also good. This is happening in our world, believe it or not.
My understanding is that the performance/imagery, etc. is political commentary . Symbolic of all that is happening to minority/blacks/non-whites in America…the violence, tension, etc. Brutal commentary but life is brutal for a lot of people in the US right now, and for Black Americans, for a long time.
….ummmm
Did it occur to you that he may have had in mind people like Sergeant La David T Johnson whose family was disrespected by the 45 himself?
Maybe it would be a better idea to look at the real world for clues?
Quick, put up a post praising Jolie. Someone needs cheering up.
haha thanks! *blushes*
I was not expecting anyone here to feel the same or share a similar perspective as me, I was just wondering. Now I know. And that’s how it works.
“This, to me, was like the Grammys just ruined it for themselves. I understood why they put Kendrick first, but by putting the strongest performance first, they set the bar too high and they couldn’t keep up with it.”
Not sure. This is true only if you like that kind of music. To me, I was so bored I paused and skipped. Personal taste.
To quote the great Cardi B: I have Butterflies in my vagina. Riri is amazing!
Rihanna looked like she was having a blast during her performance, but she always sounds bad live.
How many years has Kendrick lost Album of the Year now?? Ugh…so aggravating!
Rihanna is just so authentic it’s amazing
I will say I love Rhianna’s make up line, Fenty. It is great!
U2 was on Kendrick’s album on that song. He put them on his song. It’s his song, his performance. I guess Kendrick wanted them there. They were honored I’m sure, and it’s why they had to prerecord their planned performance on the barge instead of performing it live from there, because they couldn’t be two places.
U2 also has Kendrick on their latest album.
Love Kendrick. The end.
She is the best, beauty, fun and good artist. Love her.
LOVED her hair. DJ Khaled, just no. Bruno had a great performance too. And I liked Gaga. As a lover of country, I grew up on it, ok?! That was awful. And Gambino, DAMN.