Music
Nicki Minaj Is Still Mad About The ‘White Man Bon Iver’ Taking Her Best New Artist Grammy
Getty Image While some debated this year’s batch, Mrs. Petty re-aired old grievances. …
With the Recording Academy releasing its nominees for the 2021 Grammy Awards today, the reactions have been flying thick and fast on Twitter about the respective merits of the nominees, the mysterious absence of The Weeknd, and the most egregious snubs. However, rather than addressing this year’s batch of nominees, one person used the opportunity to revive an old grievance against the Academy. Nicki Minaj reminded her fans that she was once nominated for Best New Artist in 2012, but lost to Bon Iver.
“Never forget the Grammys didn’t give me my best new artist award when I had 7 songs simultaneously charting on billboard & bigger first week than any female rapper in the last decade- went on to inspire a generation,” she wrote. “They gave it to the white man Bon Iver.” As usual, there’s a point to her pettiness — pun intended. The Grammys have long had a history of overlooking and underrating accomplished artists in traditionally Black genres like rap and R&B — especially women, who have rarely won albums of the year in either category and are even more seldom even nominated for general categories like Album Of The Year.
Never forget the Grammys didn’t give me my best new artist award when I had 7 songs simultaneously charting on billboard & bigger first week than any female rapper in the last decade- went on to inspire a generation. They gave it to the white man Bon Iver. #PinkFriday
— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) November 24, 2020
In fact, this year, there are no women nominated in the Rap category at all and only Jhene Aiko and Chloe X Halle are nominated in the new spinoff R&B category, Best Progressive R&B. Also, remember the year they gave Best Rap Album to Macklemore despite Kendrick Lamar being nominated for Good Kid, MAAD City?
So this time, we have to side with Nicki. Incidentally, though, the Academy does have the chance to clean up that eight-year-old mistake; this year’s Best New Artist category includes Chika, the breakout Alabama rapper who starred on Netflix’s Project Power and collaborated with Stevie Wonder, Doja Cat, the compelling R&B/hip-hop hybrid who racked up a No. 1 with Nicki earlier this year, and Megan Thee Stallion, who garnered two No. 1s with Beyonce and Cardi B, competing against a field that includes D Smoke, Ingrid Andress, Kaytranada, Noah Cyrus, and Phoebe Bridgers.
Album Review
Kamila Csenge explores the unknown with a powerful debut album “Behind the Universe”
Some albums tell stories, while some invite you to experience a different worldview. And that is precisely what Kamila Csenge does on her debut album, “Behind the Universe.” A collection of 7 crafted tracks exploring what lies beyond fear, pain, and the limitations we so often put on ourselves. The album is an invitation to curiosity and reflection and growth, not to easy answers.
The journey begins with a reflective jazz fusion ballad, “The Void,” opening space for silence outside of simple ideas of right and wrong. Next track, “Against the Wall,” moves from there, with a stark look at the courage to overcome obstacles and make a difference. Then, “Music Forever” goes on with a sincere reflection about being true to yourself in a world that asks for attention and speed.
The emotional and imaginative range of the second half of the album goes even further. “Guardians of the Garden” is a peculiar universe, a universe of hope and light in the darkness. Next up is “The Metamorphosis,” which explores the silent yet powerful evolution of a human being, as growth usually begins with the loss of our former selves.
“This World” turns inside to the quiet wars many people fight each day with honesty and compassion. The album ends with “The Point of No Return,” a perfect song to end the album, accepting that the only way to go is just to go. Kamila Csenge’s debut album “Behind the Universe” is a record that prizes emotion, imagination, and resilience and is at once deeply personal and open to infinite interpretation.
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Artist Spotlight
Kai Moa delivers an electronic journey of loss and identity with “L = ∅”
One of the few electronic releases to communicate emotional collapse so intensely is “L = ∅” by Kai Moa. The track is a dramatic shift in weight and atmosphere, the second single from the artist’s forthcoming debut EP, which will be out by August 2026.
The production of “L = ∅” has a nice balance of mechanical force and emotional tension. The song is about the emotional fallout of losing a job and the meaning it held. Instead of a straightforward representation of grief, Kai Moa takes on the mindset of a character who is sliding into nihilism, rejecting ideas of work, security, relationships, and meaning itself. This is an artist who can take personal disappointment and make it into a meditation on identity.
“L = ∅” is an immersive listening experience that defies expectations. Kai Moa has a real talent for blending cinematic storytelling with a bold sound design. This release feels like it could make its way into the ears of underground electronic fans and those searching for substance in their music. Kai Moa is an artist who isn’t scared to jump headfirst into uncomfortable ideas with fearless production and ambitious creative vision, and the first track leads into the debut EP.
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