[Recap] The 54th Annual Grammy Awards: Pleasantly Boring

Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles TimesLast night we witnessed a very safe ceremony for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. The fact that I'm not as outraged about the performances and the results as I normally am has had me stewing on this all night and all morning. I'm always the one in my circle that cheers on The Recording Academy to make better decisions so they can be both relevant while not getting too caught up in The Long Tail looking for the year's very best, so why can't I feel better about last night's ceremony?  I want to say they're finally coming around, but why did the whole ordeal make me feel so "meh" afterwards?

The only two real "shockers" of the night in terms of awards were Skrillex and Bon Iver. Yes, Skrillex took home three awards for Best Dance/Electronic Album, Best Dance Recording and Best Remix during the pre-show so haters can put a Grammy in it for now. At least he didn't win Best New Artist so the rest of the world could start cracking Bonny Bear jokes after Bon Iver's second win of the night (the other was Best Alternative Music Album). Also, "Thanks for the sweet hookup", Justin Vernon? Really? Glad we know you didn't come with a prepared speech. Oh, and I don't understand how Bon Iver is a "New Artist" either. Supposedly if they've never won a Grammy before then technically they're still "new"? Okay....

The big winners of the night were Adele with six awards and Foo Fighters with five. Both also killed it during their perfromances. Anyone who wants to question how Adele managed to snatch up so many awards just needs to watch her as she destroyed "Rolling In The Deep" for the zillionth time. As for Foos, they rocked "Walk" most excellently. I could have done without the deadmau5 live remix thing they failed to pull off though. Probably one of my favorite quotes from the night was from Davie Grohl after Foos won Best Rock Album:

"To me this award means a lot because it shows that the human element of making music is what's most important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning your craft , that's the most important thing for people to do. It's not about being perfect, it's not about sounding absolutely correct, it's not about what goes on in a computer. It's about what goes on in here *points to heart* and it's about what goes on in here *points to head*".

Most of the other performances were pretty solid, minus maybe whatever the heck Nicki Minaj was trying to prove to everyone during her new single, "Roman Holiday". I think someone may be butthurt that she can't come off as cracked out as Lady Gaga. Either way, I wasn't a fan before last night and she certainly did not win me over after the short film and all the "Look at me! I'm so crazy!" The Beach Boys gave me "Good Vibrations". Paul McCartney gave The Recording Academy some Kisses On The Bottom so he got to perform twice, only to find out that America's youth doesn't know who the heck he is (yes, seriously). Jennifer Hudson's tribute to Whitney Houston made me hate her less for being in all those Weight Watchers commericals in addition to it finally sinking in that Whitney is really gone.

Also, can we talk for a second about Chris Brown? I can try to get over (and fail miserably) that even though he beat the snot out of Rihanna that he still got to perform and that he also won a Grammy last night. What I can't get over, is the outcry from #TeamBreezy that stupidly announced that they would let Brown "beat on them anytime". SERIOUSLY? Is this what we've become, the internet? Face. Palm.

At any rate, The Recording Academy must have done something right, considering last night's show ranked at #2 in all-time ratings with 39 million viewers. What did you think of last night's show?

In case you missed out, The Audio Perv has all the performances for you to check out. You can also check out a full listing of last night's winners over on The Grammy's website.

[News] 54th Annual Grammy Nomminations Announced

It's that time of year again where we all bicker and complain about how the Grammys are no longer relevant and that the music industry continues to be nothing but a big fat failure. That's right, kiddies: the 54th Annual Grammy nominations are in and the band bashing is already in full swing.

Leading the nominations this time around are Adele (shocker), Kanye West, Bruno Mars, Foo Fighters, Rihanna and Lady Gaga. The Electronica and Dance categories were relatively well represented with nods for Cut/Copy, David Guetta, Robyn, Duck Sauce, Deadmau5, Skrillex, and Swedish House Mafia.

Skrillex and Bon Iver were included in the noms for Best New Artist along with The Band Perry, J. Cole and Nicki Minaj, which seemed to rattle the internet quite a bit. It's a little random that Bon Iver is in this category considering they released their first album in 2008, but we will be happy for them all the same. Skrillex seems to come out of left field in this category, but I guess if Ryan Seacrest is excited for Skrillex then we really shouldn't be all that shocked. Kudos to him for getting electronica/dance music into more categories other than their own, though. Bon Iver also received a nomination for Record of the Year with "Helocene" alongside Mumford & Sons, Katy Perry, Adele, and Bruno Mars.

Butch Vig, Danger Mouse, The Lonely Island, The Black Keys, Foster The People, Radiohead, The Decemberists, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kings of Leon, Wilco and many more were among the nominees tonight. Make sure you have a onceover on this years list of nominees and get ready to fire your tweets off with us on February 12, 2012 during the awards ceremony.

[Listen] Drake - "Make Me Proud" Feat. Nicki Minaj

I really don't have much to say about this song other than it's another tune from Drake's pushed back album Take Care, it features Nicki Minaj and her weird voices and it's titled "Make Me Proud." But, my buddy Bryce from 107.7 The End did point something out that I cannot get out of my head. That owl paperweight and the way Drake's hand is positioned, totally make him look like he's holding a drumstick. Right? Good. Now you it can never be unseen and it will be stuck in your head everytime you see that cover. Mission accomplished.

Anyways, check out the track below. Take Care is now set to drop on November 15th via Young Money.

[Listen] Big Sean ft. Nicki Minaj - "Dance (A$$)" (Remix)

Big Sean recently released his debut album Finally Famous via Def Jam Recordings, and who better to join him on the remix of his latest single "Dance (A$$)" than the queen of big asses, Nicki Minaj. While Big Sean himself changes things up by adding in new verses, Ms. Minaj makes it a truly ridiculous remix by throwing down lines such as, "Kiss my ass and my anus ’cause it’s finally famous" or "Only time you on the ‘net is when you Google my ass." You can check out the remix below, courtesy of Rap-Up.

[Watch] Kanye West - "Monster" Feat. Rick Ross, Jay-Z & Nicki Minaj (Official Final Version Video)

Kanye lets loose the final version of the controversial video for the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy banger "Monster" featuring Rick Ross, Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj. Enjoy!

[Watch] Karmin - "Superbass" Feat. ?uestlove (Nicki Minaj Cover)

Maaaan, I need to get on Youtube and start doing covers of bands and putting a twist on them, major label deals and jamming with dope artists because of it? Yeah I'd take that. That's exactly what Karmin has done and today you can check out her covering Nicki Minaj. I know this isn't the usual kind of post but the covers they've been doing have intrigued me, and now she's got the help of ?uest it's gotta be worth a peek right?

What do you guys make of getting a deal through posting vids on Youtube or wherever? Pretty dope, right?

[Listen] Verbal - "Change Change" Feat. Nicki Minaj

Teriyaki Boyz emcee, Verbal dropped his solo debut Visionair earlier this month. Along with Japanese artists, the album has a significant amount of American Hip-Hop artists and producers. Some of them including Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and Swizz Beatz. Check out the track "Change Change" featuring Young Money's Nicki Minaj. The track combines elements from all over, mainly dubstep and hip hop. Peep it!

Verbal - "Change Change" Feat. Nicki Minaj by Some Kind of Awesome

[Watch] Nicki Minaj - "Right Through Me" x "Moment 4 Life" Live on SNL

Earlier we posted up the new track and video from The Lonely Island, titled "The Creep" and it featured Nicki Minaj, who is literally everywhere at the moment. Over in the UK she has done just about, every TV show/Radio Show imaginable and it looks like her reign over on US soil is also going to take some beating too. From the Lonely Island video earlier we know that she has paid a visit to the Saturday Night Live studio, but it wasn't just to add a verse and some visuals to the video, she also performed two of her own tracks from her number one album, Pink Friday. Up at the top you can see her pinked up and performing "Right Through Me" and then after the jump you'll witness her performance of "Moment 4 Life". Enjoy courtesy of our friends over at The Audio Perv.