Brand Implications
JBL stole the red carpet this year as the stunning Doja Cat added a dangling crystal-covered JBL speaker to the handle of her custom hand-blown glass handbag for the event. The speaker was covered in over $1M worth of diamonds and earned the brand a feature in almost all of her red carpet photos. Doja teased her ambassadorship and the speaker itself on social media leading into the show and is excited to work with JBL as a fan of their products. While a full artist ambassadorship is always an option, brands can also activate at the countless Grammy-associated label and artist parties through the weekend. The moment again highlighted how brands can win big when aligning with A-list talent that has real interest in their products—and these moments are possible at every major award show.
BEN Takeaways
Where is Rap and Hip-Hop?
Rap and Hip-Hop have dominated the charts and streaming platforms in the U.S. for the last 5+ years, but these genres still feel like an afterthought at the Grammys. While some of this stems from many of the biggest artists in the genre not wanting to be part of the ceremony due to the Grammy’s lack of recognition for black artists. Brands looking to help bring better representation to the Grammy stage must seize the opportunity to align with more artists from these genres now to help empower change in the year ahead.
Hope is on the Horizon
• Doja Cat would have been 0 for 11 if her hit “Kiss Me More” with SZA had not won for best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Fans are hoping this win brings her back to the studio and the stage after a rough week of Doja Tweeting she was quitting following her confirmed run as the opening act on the Weeknd’s After Hours tour.
• Jazmine Sullivan, who was a major underdog at 0 for 12 coming into the Grammys, came out on top by tying with Silk Sonic for Best R&B performance, and winning Best R&B album for Heaux Tales
A Word From Ukraine
The Oscars had a short moment of silence for Ukraine, but the Grammys did a far more effective job highlighting the war with a full video from the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke plainly and called on pop artists to ”fill the silence with their music and tell Ukraine’s story”. John Legend followed those words with a performance of his new song “Free” alongside poet Lyuba Yakimchuk, singer Mika Newton, and bandura player Siuzanna Iglidan, from Ukraine.
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Jon Batiste was the king of the 64th Grammy Awards taking home five trophies from his eleven nominations, including Album of the Year.
Silk Sonic came in a close second with four wins after starting the night off with their performance of “777”.
See the full list of 2022 Grammy winners HERE
