Grammys Get Political: Rachel Maddow and a Little-Known George Floyd Anthem Crowned Winners
A song inspired by the death of George Floyd and a spoken word album from MSNBC host Rachel Maddow documented the leftward drift of the 2021 Grammy Awards.
The protest song “I Can’t Breathe” by singer H.E.R. received the coveted song of the year award Sunday.
That song beat out “Black Parade” by Beyonce, Roddy Rich’s “The Box,” Taylor Swift’s “Cardigan,” “Circles” by Post Malone, “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lupa, “Everything I Wanted” by Billie Eilish and “If the World Was Ending” by J.P. Saxe and Julia Michaels.
The YouTube video for “I Can’t Breathe” on Sunday reached 1 million views, far below the more than 82 million views Swift had for her entry.
Maddow was honored for the best spoken word album for the audio version of her 2019 book “Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth.” The book suggests, in part that “the Russian government hacked the 2016 U.S. election.”
Competing against Maddow were Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea’s memoir “Acid for the Children”; Ken Jennings and Alex Trebek for Trebek’s memoir, “The Answer Is…”; Ronan Farrow for the audio version of his book “Catch and Kill,” about the Harvey Weinstein sexual assault allegations; and an audiobook of “Charlotte’s Web” narrated by Meryl Streep, according to The Wrap.
Politics is endemic in awards shows, and this year’s Grammy awards show was no exception.
“President Biden, we demand justice, equity, policy and everything else that freedom encompasses,” activist Tamika Mallory said at one point, according to the BBC. “And to accomplish this, we don’t need allies. We need accomplices.”
The Grammys gave Rachel Maddow a Grammy last night and handed “Song of the Year” to a George Floyd tribute song. Everything has become politics.
— James Bradley For US Senate CA (@JamesBradleyCA) March 15, 2021
i hate how political the grammys r rn like i know that these topics need to be discussed very badly but it’s a music award show it should focus on music production/quality and public reaction so many of these awards r focused entirely around politics where it should be abt both
— sami_is_a_penguin 卌 (@LONELYWXLLS) March 14, 2021
The lyrics of “I Can’t Breathe” open with the phrase, “Starting a war, screaming ‘peace’ at the same time.”
The song later states that “the structure was made to make us the enemy.”
The song later takes its shot at America, saying, “Destruction of minds, bodies, and human rights/ Stripped of bloodlines, whipped and confined/ This is the American pride/ It’s justifying a genocide.
The song then talks about “Romanticizing the theft and bloodshed; That made America the land of the free.”
The song decries “generations of supremacy resulting in your ignorant, privileged eyes.”
“Be thankful we are God-fearing/ Because we do not seek revenge/ We seek justice,” the song adds.
Even white liberals do not escape the song’s venom.
“[Y]ou think your so-called ‘black friend’/ Validates your wokeness and erases your racism,” the song adds.
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