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Macklemore: "You got robbed, I wanted you to win. You should have. It's
weird and sucks that I robbed you."
Russell Simmons: "Kendrick is absolutely a better rapper, and Macklemore
had one of the most inspiring, socially conscious songs of the year and that is
what did well for him.
Kendrick Lamar: [Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' Grammy wins were] "well
deserved. He did what he did, man. He went out there and hustled and
grinded."

MY FIVE BIG TAKEAWAYS OF THE 2014
GRAMMYS 1-29-2014
1-29-2014 - Written By: David L. $Money Train$ Watts Journalist/Film Reviewer
FuTurXTV & HHBMedia.com - David Velo Stewart Editor HHBMedia.com
First, what does Macklemores 2014 Grammy win for Best Rap Album over Kendrick
Lamars good kid, m.A.A.d city mean to Hip-Hop? I have to phrase it like this because
the traditional Hip-Hop Industry gurus, tastemakers, MCs, record execs, DJ, bloggers,
journalists all have come to the conclusion that Macklemore sucks and Kendrick Lamar
should have been a multiple Grammy winner. Even Macklemore has been very humble
and contrite over his expected Grammy wins [Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance
and Best Rap Song] when he said in a post Grammy interview on New Yorks Hot 97:

First and foremost, Kendrick [Lamar] is a friend of mine. Hes somebody that I
love his music and, in my opinion, had the best Rap album of the year. And knowing
how the Grammys usually go, I knew that there would be a great chance that wed
win that award and, in essence, rob Kendrick. Thats what happened tonight. It
kind of sucks. I think we made a great album. I think that Kendrick made a better
Rap album.Macklemore
David L. $Money Train$ Watts FuTurXTV HHBMedia.com info@hhbmedia.com www.hhbmedia.com David Velo Stewart
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And Macklemore kept dissing his Grammy wins in that same Hot 97 interview. He told
the pissed of Hip-Hop heads that he could not help it that the Grammy voters were out
of touch, did not really know the Hip-Hop genre and probably voted for him because he
was white. How noble and introspective of Macklemore seemed when he humbly said:
In terms of the people that are voting on those ballots, filling out those bubbles, we
have an unfair advantage due to race, due to the fact we had huge radio success, due
to the fact that our name was circulating more in a pocket in the industry of people
filling out that ballot, he said. "This is not like a Rap Radar poll, like a 2DopeBoyz
poll. This is not a Hot 97 poll. This is the Grammys. This is many different types of
people. All different age groups filling out a ballot where they might not necessarily
know the genre.Macklemore
But the real social media hatred over Macklemore and Ryan Lewis also winning Best
New Artist, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song is because we are finally at a
turning point in Hip-Hop that cannot be reversed. The early 1990s was battle with the
afro-centric political Hip-Hop of Public Enemy, Brand Nubian; Pop-Hip-Hop like MC
Hammer, Vanilla Ice and Beastie Boys and the Gangsta Rap movement of NWA, Snoop
Dogg, Biggie, Tupac and Dr. Dre. By the end of the 90s we had lost two Hip-Hop icons
in Tupac and Biggie to gun violence. Gangsta Rap had clearly won because Hammer,
Vanilla Ice and Public Enemy were in retirement. And the Beastie Boys had transitioned
into an alternative rock group. From 2000 to 2010 I would call the Bling Era in Hip-Hop
with emergence and dominance of rappers and rap songs who primarily spit about
bitches, money and power. During the Bling Era even Three 6 Mafia won an actual
Oscar for Best Original Song for Its Hard out Here for a Pimp from Hustle & Flow. I
wonder if we could go to a few McDonalds and track down all those Bling Era rappers
that used to be featured on loop on BET Uncut. When they got a break from frying
burgers and mopping down the rest rooms I would ask them why they cant get their
simple stripper club music videos played on BET anymore. But what followed after the
election of the U.S.A.s first African-American President in Barack Obama, the crash of
Wall Street, Occupy Movement, 1% vs. 99% clashes and the Arab Spring; caused us to
jump from the Bling Era to the Conscious Capitalism Era of Hip-Hop. And my definition
of Conscious Capitalism in Hip-Hop are highly profitable rap songs and rap albums that
are focused on the real social, economic, political, environmental, social justice issues
effecting everyone. Travie McCoy and Bruno Marss unconventional anti-bling rap song
Billionaire is the very definition of new Conscious Capitalism Hip-Hop. Billionaire has
catchy hooks and lyrics about one selflessly giving ones riches back to ordinary people
as opposed to bragging about how rich one is and how much meaningless materialistic
crap they own until the IRS, the bank or their record label takes it back. So it is only
fitting that Macklemores Same Love is and would have been highly Grammy pleasing
Conscious Capitalism Era type rap song that praises LBGT lifestyles, marriage equality
and declares it matters most in life who you love than who society says you can love.
David L. $Money Train$ Watts FuTurXTV HHBMedia.com info@hhbmedia.com www.hhbmedia.com David Velo Stewart
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And yeah I'll be in a whole new tax racket
We in recession but let me take a crack at it
I'll probably take whatever's left and just split it up
So everybody that I love can have a couple bucks
And not a single tummy around me would know what hungry was
Eating good, sleeping soundly
I know we all have a similar dream
Go in your pocket, pull out your wallet
And put it in the air and singBillionaire by Travie McCoy...3/9/2010
If I was a hardcore Hip-Hop Head still mentally living in the Bling or Gangsta Rap Era
then hearing Macklemores Same Love lyrics like, If I was gay, I would think hip-hop
hates me, you would get violently ill, so angry you cant speak and want to throw up.
If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately?
"Man, that's gay" gets dropped on the daily
We become so numb to what we're saying
A culture founded from oppression
Yet we don't have acceptance for 'em
Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It's the same hate that's caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color, the complexion of your pigment
The same fight that led people to walk outs and sit ins
It's human rights for everybody, there is no difference!
Live on and be yourselfSame Love by Macklemore7/18/2012
Too many years rappers got away with calling each other faggots and dissing each
other by saying they were weak, gay, a punk is gay or No Homo. I doubt multi-million
Samsung backed Jay Z deals and Kayne West fighting with paparazzi about your reality
star baby mama and launching a Confederate flag clothing line are going to ever help
Jay Z or Kanye win a Grammy anytime soon. If you stand for nothing in Hip-Hop and
say nothing of substance, then stop expecting to win Grammys and just be happy with
getting BET Awards and BET Hip-Hop Awards. The link below is to a recent Spin.com
article that really go out of its way to hate on Macklemore. Just read it and you will
easily see how Hip-Hop artists in the Conscious Capitalism Era have to evolve beyond
hoping and praying raps songs about bitches, money and bling are gonna come back
and be acceptable with all the serious issues going on now in the world. If they refuse to
change then next year Macklemores socially conscious album will win more Grammys.
http://www.spin.com/articles/grammys-macklemore-kendrick-lamar-same-love?sailthru_position=4
David L. $Money Train$ Watts FuTurXTV HHBMedia.com info@hhbmedia.com www.hhbmedia.com David Velo Stewart
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Second, Beyonce and Jay-Z in my opinion embarrassed themselves to no good with
their performance of Drunk in Love on the Grammys. I could barely understand what
Beyonce was singing about or Jay Z was rapping about. And maybe my full attention
was locked on Beyonces skimpy outfit and her shapely body and booty shaking. But to
me Beyonces stripper themed gyrations always make sense or seem classy when they
are presented in a highly choreographed routinelike when she does Single Ladies.
This time I felt Beyonce was trying to show Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga that she was
not too old to be sexy, act sexy or reestablish that she is the Queen of Music Award
Show Sexiness. And what was up with Jay Z grabbing or caressing Beyonces booty
like he had never seen it before that night. Also, I was bit stunned and did a double take
when I heard Jay Z spit out his verse of In '97 I bite, I'm Ike, Turner, turn up Baby no
I don't play, now eat the cake, Anna Mae Said, "Eat the cake, Anna Mae!" Now why
would one of the most successful entertainment couples in the Music Biz that gets to
regularly hang out with the Obamas, not drop a positive reference to that power couple?
No! Jay Z brings up Ike Turner like he was happily endorsing and excusing spousal
abuse in Whats Love Got to Do with It when Ike angrily smashed a cake in Tinas
face. Beyonce has to know better even if Jay Z still wants to keep his thug-rep intact.

I wish Beyonce and Jay Z could have been more memorable on stage than trying to be
the most shocking couple and the most Tweeted about performers at the Grammys.
And when you compare Beyonces exploitative opening Grammy number with Pink
doing her high flying rendition of her song Try, then you see that Pink was wearing the
same skimpy, sexy outfit as Beyonce but it was not at all distracting to her graceful
aerial performance. Pink then did some gymnastic dancing before covering up her body
with a skirt to then sing Just Give Me a Reason with Funs Nate Ruess. Pink showed
her true peacock colors in the air and on stage with grace, dignity and vocal dominance.
David L. $Money Train$ Watts FuTurXTV HHBMedia.com info@hhbmedia.com www.hhbmedia.com David Velo Stewart
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Lorde is the new anti-Katy Perry. I am confident that Lorde had a great time partying at
LA nightclubs on Grammy night because Lorde looked so old no bouncer would believe
she was less than 25 or older. She had so much dark finger paint, black eye liner and
caked on white face powder that I wondered while she was doing her remixed version of
Royal would the cast of the Adams Family or the Munsters join her on stage. I can
see how Katy Perry tried to preempt Lordes dark and somber set with her own black,
foggy and spooky routine, but she is poor Pop label backed substitute to the real Goth
anti-materialism look oozing from Lorde. I would say Lorde is the anti-Taylor Swift but
that is too dead on a comparison. Lorde and Katy Perry will be battling it out for years to
come. Lorde is a true talent and all the Twitter buzz over whether she sort of lip-synced
Royals on the Grammys I guess could have been avoided if she had been less twitchy
and weird. But I did like Katy trying to enhance her dance moves and her neon cross.

4. Fourth, The most interesting group performances were Pharrell Williams, Daft Punk,
Stevie Wonder and Nile Rogers, Robin Thicke and Chicago Kendrick Lamar and
Imagine Dragons. As I watched the Grammys these three superb performances stood
out from the rest of the predictable old plays with new artists sets. I wonder if Kendrick
had released this rock-rap mash-up with Imagine Dragons would it have won a Grammy
for Best Rock Song? I also thought when Robin Thicke and Chicago did his Blurred
Lines if Pharrell would pop up on stage and join in the fun. I do think that one of the
major reasons that Macklemore had to quickly adopt a desperate Twitter PR campaign
after the Grammys about how he robbed Kendrick was because of the awesome way
he threw down with Imagine Dragons. Although many of the Rap awards were given
during the pre-telecast, I think Kendrick has impressed so many Grammy voters that the
next time they will give him an award. And I liked how Stevie Wonder fit in smoothly with
Daft Punks Get Lucky set, but I still think the Daft should have shown their real faces.
David L. $Money Train$ Watts FuTurXTV HHBMedia.com info@hhbmedia.com www.hhbmedia.com David Velo Stewart
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5. Finally, my last takeaway from the 56
th
Grammys was that Target and Pepsi Cola had
the best ads during the night. I gotta give credit for Target and sometimes Walmart for
creating creative and fun ad campaigns that promote people still going to a retail outlet
and purchasing a physical CD. All of Targets commercials for Shakira, Janelle Monae,
Justin Timberlake, Band Perry and Prince Royce were all giving bonus songs. And
those bonus tracks are only on the CDs sold at Target. But I really wonder how much
longer this type of old skool marketing will appeal to Millennials who are so used to now
to streaming or buying only digital copies. And I am sure even the savvy tech teens
know how to download the Target bonus tracks from YouTube or other MP3 sources.
And Pepsi-Cola definitely open up their piggy bank and went all out on their very funny
pre-Super Bowl Halftime commercial with a singing Terry Bradshaw and Deon Sanders
singing, a rapping Shannon Sharpe and Michael Oher as the DJ. And I liked the finale
with Mike Dikta clowning Miley Cyrus as he rode a wrecking ball. The spot was way
over the top and really stood out from the Grammys other safe, corny and polished ads,

David L. $Money Train$ Watts FuTurXTV HHBMedia.com info@hhbmedia.com www.hhbmedia.com David Velo Stewart