Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar were the big winners at the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday at a ceremony that celebrated the thrills of chart-topping pop and also sought to raise relief funds for Los Angeles after its damaging wildfires.
Beyoncé seized key wins with “Cowboy Carter,” her high-concept, multigenre album that put country music and American traditions at its center. It took album of the year, the biggest award of the night, and gave Beyoncé her first win in the category after four conspicuous losses. She became the first Black artist to ever win best country album, and the first Black woman to win album of the year since Lauryn Hill in 1999.
Lamar’s “Just Like Us,” a vicious takedown of a rival rapper that became a No. 1 hit, won both record and song of the year — a notable double victory for any song and a rare win for rap in the Grammys’ two most prestigious song categories.
“Just Like Us” — which is not only directed at Drake but goes so far as to call him a pedophile — was a cultural sensation last year that also became the center of a lawsuit when Drake sued the record label the two men share for defamation.
Producers of the show, which was hosted by Trevor Noah, attempted to strike a balance between celebratory spectacle and somber recognition of the fires. Here are some takeaways from the night:
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Los Angeles was a primary character in the show, with an ensemble version of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” opening the night. The Grammys made repeated fund-raising appeals to viewers, and a team of firefighters presented the album of the year category.
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Young women in pop made big splashes. Chappell Roan, the Missouri-born singer who broke out last year with subversive, catchy dance pop, won best new artist, cementing her rise as a major star. And Sabrina Carpenter, an actress and singer who finally broke through last year with her sixth studio album, “Short n’ Sweet,” won pop solo performance and pop vocal album.
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Lamar, a Pulitzer Prize winner, dominated rap, with “Not Like Us” winning all five categories in which he was nominated, including rap performance, rap song and music video.