Raissa's Blog - Best of Sports, Culture, and Entertainment

Jay-Z was honored with the Industry Icon award at the pre-Grammy gala on Saturday, January 27th. Jay opened up and talked about his evolving feelings on the Grammy Awards. Jay-Z had a complicated relationship with the Grammys for a long time. He boycotted the Grammys from 1998 TO 2004. He said he ended the boycott when the "beautiful Miss Beyoncé" was nominated. He said, " I realized that art is super-subjective. The academy, they are human like we are and they are voting on things they like. And we can pretend we don't care, but we do. " Jay-Z's heavily analyzed and intimate album " 4:44 " earned him eight Grammy nominations, making him the most nominated artist at the 60th edition of the Grammy Awards. It was a shock to many that the heavily nominated artist wont not a single award in the eight categories he was nominated. Jay-Z's " 4:44 " album was nominated for Album of the Year but lost to Bruno Mars' 24K Magic. A tr...

Latina superstar Shakira just made Grammy history! Despite not attending this year's Grammy Awards, Shakira marked a historical feat by becoming the first artist to win Best Latin Pop Album twice. In 2001, the Colombian native won in the same award category for her live album 'MTV Unplugged', at the 43rd Grammy Awards. This year, she wins Best Latin Pop Album for 2017's 'El Dorado'. She has so far won 10 Latin Grammy Awards in categories like: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Album, Album of the Year, Best Music Video and others. Shakira took to Instagram to thank all her fans and shared two video messages in Spanish and English. In English, she said, " Wow, I just heard that we won the Best Latin Pop Album of the Year, and this is unbelievable. Thank you so much for your support with this album and to my entire career. I love you so much!. " The Grammy Recording Academy acknowledged her in a tweet where it wrote, " ...

It's a wrap for the 60th edition of the Grammy Awards. Jay-Z entered Sunday as the top nominee but it was Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar who were the biggest winners. Many (like myself) were disappointed that Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's 2017 summer hit "Despacito" won in none of the three categories in which it was nominated.  The Grammys were awarded in over 80 categories. Hoping for a category for African music in coming years. Africa deserves to be represented at the Grammys. Here are the nominees and winners for each category: GENERAL FIELD Album of the Year: "Awaken, My Love!" — Childish Gambino 4:44 — Jay-Z DAMN. — Kendrick Lamar Melodrama — Lorde 24K Magic — Bruno Mars -- WINNER Record of the Year: "Redbone" — Childish Gambino "Despacito" — Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber "The Story Of O.J." — Jay-Z "HUMBLE." — Kendrick Lamar "24K Magic" — Bruno...