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Of course,a white male voting core isn't the only PR problem the Grammys have faced in recent years. Despite their clout,the awards have a justified reputation for misreading the cultural zeitgeist (who can forget Bruno Mars'lightweight pop beating Kendrick Lamar's eventual Pulitzer winner to the top prize last year?).
Rapper Drake seemed to acknowledge as much in a viral acceptance speech that touched on the Academy's taste-making gaps,decrying a voting base who"might not understand what a mixed race kid from Canada has to say,or a fly Spanish girl from New York".
"Look,if there's people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain,in the snow,spending their hard-earned money to buy tickets to come to your shows,you don't need this right here,I promise you,you already won,"he told his fellow nominees and aspiring musicians after claiming best rap song forGod's Plan,and appeared to be promptly cut off once producers caught wind of his message.
It was a crowd-pleasing dig at the Grammys'bizarre enduring influence,as was Childish Gambino's (also known as actor Donald Glover) awkward no-show,but for once the top winners weren't so contentious.
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This Is America's dual wins could be seen as a corrective to last year's Kendrick-shaped oversight,but there's no denying the power in a protest song that examines the black experience in an ever-intolerant landscape. Musgraves'genre-pushingGolden Hour,meanwhile,was universally well-received,a warmly idiosyncratic country collection that already claimed the CMA's top prize last November.
The luck,meanwhile,was mixed for the major Aussie nominees with Melbourne hitmaker Sarah Aarons,up for song of the year for her co-write on Zedd and Maren Morris'The Middle,pipped by Gambino,andLosing It,the house banger from Gold Coast-raised pro surfer-turned-producer Fisher,beaten by Silk City and Dua Lipa's pop hitElectricity.
But Hugh Jackman inched his way closer to becoming Australia's first EGOT,earning a Grammy for best compilation soundtrack forThe Greatest Showman,to go alongside his previous Emmy and Tony wins.
The 2019 Grammy winners are...
Album of the Year: Kacey Musgraves,Golden Hour
Record of the Year: Childish Gambino,This Is America
Song of the Year: Childish Gambino,This Is America
Best New Artist: Dua Lipa
Best Rap Album: Cardi B,Invasion of Privacy
Best Rap Song: Drake,God's Plan
Best R&B Album: H.E.R.,H.E.R.
Best R&B Song: Ella Mai,Boo'd Up
Best Country Album: Kacey Musgraves,Golden Hour
Best Country Song: Kacey Musgraves,Space Cowboy
Best Pop Vocal Album: Ariana Grande,Sweetener
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper,Shallow
Best Pop Solo Performance: Lady Gaga,Joanne (Where Do You Think You're Goin'?)
Best Rock Album: Greta Van Fleet,From the Fires
Best Rock Song: St Vincent,Masseduction
Best Rock Performance: Chris Cornell,When Bad Does Good
Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media:The Greatest Showman
Best Song Written for Visual Media:Shallow,Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper
Best Music Video:This Is America,Childish Gambino,Hiro Murai