The 53rd Grammy Awards are upon us, and they bring with them dozens of artists competing in 109 different categories. The performers on the show — which airs live on Sunday, February 13 — include Eminem, Cee Lo Green, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, Justin Bieber, Miranda Lambert, Katy Perry, Muse, B.o.B, Usher, Bruno Mars, Jaden Smith and Janelle Monae. It promises to be one of the biggest nights in the history of music, and MTV News will be bringing you wall-to-wall coverage of the big event.
But the awards are the big draw, and just as the MTV Newsroom Blog does with the MTV Video Music Awards, here are a series of guides to some of the biggest categories on the docket. This time around: Best Urban/Alternative Performance.
The prize for Best Urban/Alternative Performance is one of the newest awards given out at the Grammys, as it has only existed since 2003. Its creation was long overdue, as the Best Urban/Alternative Performance prize seeks to reward artists working to push the boundaries in hip-hop and R&B, two genres who are notoriously resistant to change and evolution. The nominees in the category this year each crafted work that takes a genre and helps it mutate into something that is truly original while still remaining true to the tropes of the craft.
The biggest entry in the category is undoubtedly Cee Lo Green's "F--- You," a huge hit single and a fantastically subversive (both lyrically and sonically) throwback R&B track. Green's competition is pretty stiff, as it includes Janelle Monae's "Tightrope" (possibly the strangest song to be played on urban radio in years), Bilal's "Little One," (a sparse old school burner) Eric Roberson's "Still" (a jittery soul track) and Carolyn Malachi "Orion" (a groovy, bluesy slow jam).
Based on popularity alone, it seems like it should be a two-horse race between Green and Monae (though it wouldn't be especially surprising if Malachi's song poked its head in there at the last second). Since Green will probably be winning more high-profile prizes, this one appears to belong to Monae, which should cap off a tremendous year for the young singer.
Notable Winners: Outkast, "Hey Ya!" (2004); Damian Marley, "Welcome to Jamrock" (2006); Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy" (2007)
Notable Robberies: Monae should have won the award in 2009 but got beat by Chrisette Michelle's "Be OK," and though India.Arie won in 2003 (her first of two in this category), Erykah Badu and Common should have scored with "Love of My Life (Ode to Hip-Hop)."
Who do you think will win the Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance? Let us know in the comments!
