If you missed ‘em, two of the key 2002 GRAMMY AWARDS went to new age soul and jazz man JON BATISTE (above) and the wonderful SILK SONIC.
Batiste’s uplifting, genre-dodging album ‘We Are’ won Album of the Year. You may know that ‘We Are’ isn’t classic soul but it’s firmly rooted in black music tradition. The title track was written in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. Other tracks deal with positivity and intergenerational wisdom. Batiste received 11 nominations heading into this Grammys including several for his work on the animated movie, ‘Soul’ from which his version of The Impressions’ ‘It’s All Right’ is worth checking out. . And if you missed the ‘We Are’ album which was released back in April, you can read more about it here… https://www.soulandjazzandfunk.com/news/we-are-who-we-are/
Silk Sonic, the joint project between Bruno Mars and rapper/drummer Anderson .Paak, took home both the record and song of the year prizes. Steeped in 70s retro flavours (and with a wonderful video) it proved that in difficult times many people look to nostalgia for comfort. Paak said: “We are really trying our hardest to remain humble at this point. but in the industry, we call that ‘a clean sweep. To all the other nominees… the drinks is on Silk Sonic tonight.”
The Silk Sonic song was hugely popular but oddly ‘We Are’ failed to chart in the UK and only reached number 86 in the US!
