Kanye West enters music in Grammys' rock categories
While Kanye West may not be Picasso, the 41-year-old rapper, fashion maven and pop culture fixture sure has come a long way from the bouncy hip-hop of The College Dropout to the oblique strategies of this past summer’s Ye. But could West’s songs be considered rock songs? Um…yeah, apparently! And he’s submitting one as such to the Grammys.
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As reported by TMZ, the artist has entered his Kid Cudi team-up “Freeee (Ghost Town, Pt. 2)” into the Grammys’ Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance categories. The track’s from the recent Ye and Cudi collaborative album Kids See Ghosts.
Purportedly, West feels that the tune is indeed a rock song thanks to its liberal use of guitars and drums. And the jam’s trippy textures certainly could be taken as a rock amalgamation through its warped vision of proto-psychedelia.
It’s the latest music awards genre weirdness that’s been cropping up due to rock’s slide from dominance and the almost deceptively fluid nature of the categories themselves. (Cardi B can’t even be considered for Best New Artist?)
Interestingly, and echoing other recent award show genre kerfuffles, Post Malone’s latest album beerbongs & bentleys will be submitted under the pop categories for this year’s Grammy Awards, as opposed to the rap categories.
West has had a contentious relationship with the Grammys. As noted by Consequence of Sound, he’s won 21 of his 68 noms, but he’s boycotted the awards recently after some of his latest work didn’t get the attention he anticipated.
The nominations for this year’s Grammys are set to be released in December by the Academy. So we’ll see how this all shakes out. West has a new album, Yandhi, due out next month. The 61st annual awards will air Feb. 10, 2019.
Would you consider the Kanye West and Kid Cudi track, which also features singer and rapper Ty Dolla $ign, to be a rock song? Take a listen to the tune, below, and let us know what you think down in the comments section.
