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A little over three hours into Zack Snyder’s mammoth vision of what a Justice League movie should look like (a vision that was famously canceled, but now reborn), the team finally announces, “we have a plan.” Again, it took three hours for the Justice League to come up with a plan, which, in the end, amounts to nothing much more than “Let’s shoot the thing.”

When writing about a Zack Snyder movie, it always comes with the baggage that, yes, once these words hit the public, a good number of his fans will take this as an opportunity to yell at me. So, I offer this preface here: I am about as close to a Zack Snyder agnostic as there is. I like Watchmen and Man of Steel quite a bit. I very much dislike Sucker Punch and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Justice League is putrid, but we know now that Snyder can’t really be blamed for how that movie turned out, as Snyder was phased out and eventually replaced by Joss Whedon. What resulted was a confusing, ill-structured mess of a motion picture. Like I just said, I didn’t like Batman v Superman, but at least it was one person’s vision of what a Batman versus Superman movie should look like. And I’d take that any day over whatever Justice League was supposed to be.

And that pretty much sums up what we get in Zack Snyder’s Justice League: one person’s vision of what a Justice League movie should look like. Whether that vision is for you or not, well that is between you and your god. (If you are a fan of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I imagine you’ll be pretty happy with Zack Snyder’s Justice League.) And it’s a far superior film than the version that came out in theaters in 2017 – but it would be kind of surprising if it wasn’t. That’s a pretty low bar.

Yes, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is just over four hours long, divided into individual chapters in case a person doesn’t want to watch it all in one sitting. And most of that padded time is used to show us the backstories of each of the characters, which kind of reveals the biggest problem with both of these versions: in that it came out way too early in this DC Universe that was being built. In Whedon’s version we knew almost nothing about these characters. In Snyder’s version we know more, and it certainly helps the story, but now it’s a four hour movie about searching for magic, world-destroying boxes.

But, yes, the character development helps immensely. Too often in the previous version I was left wondering why a character would do something or say something in the context of the story. It made no sense. While watching Snyder’s version, I had a lot of, “ohhh, I see, that makes sense now,” moments. But by the time we get to the third hour, it’s still a razor thin plot about trying to find three Mother Boxes so the world doesn’t end. So my general feeling during most of this Zack Snyder’s Justice League, was, yes, it’s now a coherent movie and is a better experience. But, also, why does a movie with a plot that’s as simple as “searching for magic boxes” have to be this long?

Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) is trying to put together a team of heroes – The Flash (Ezra Miller), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Mamoa), Cyborg (Ray Fisher) – to make up for the missing Superman (Henry Cavill) who died in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. (Bruce spends so much time assembling this team, and we see so many backstories, he doesn’t even wear his Batman costume until over two hours into this movie.) And this was my favorite aspect of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Basically, we get a mini-movie for each character. By the time they all team up, we at least know a little bit about them. We learn Cyborg used to play football and his ability to hack computers now becomes a huge plot point. We get a whole scene of The Flash applying for a job and saving Iris West from a car accident. But, in the end, these setups become kind of frustrating because they just lead to an unmemorable CGI ending of a battle. (Again the “let’s shoot it” plan.)

This team is needed because an alien invader named Steppenwolf is looking for the three Mother Boxes and if he gets them, his boss, Darkseid (who wasn’t in the original film), will come to Earth and enslave all of its citizens. And, yes, Steppenwolf is among the characters who are fleshed out. Now he’s less “standard CGI villain” and more of a depressing dope who just wants to impress Darkseid. Steppenwolf has been discarded by Darkseid as a bumbling fool, but this is Steppenwolf’s big chance for redemption! In fact, we see Steppenwolf check in with Darkseid, or another henchman, DeSaad, in kind of a “Vader checking in with the Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back” kind of way, many, many times during this movie. Also, Steppenwolf looks much better. He literally looked like unfinished CGI in the Whedon version. Now he looks like “completed CGI.” This doesn’t change that Steppenwolf is still a pretty lousy villain. But now, at least, he has some motivations – and a couple of bosses giving him a hard time. Which is much better than the previous motivation that seemed nothing more than, “I’m mad.”

It seems likely now Joss Whedon’s main job was to “cut this movie down from four hours into two hours,” adding scenes here and there that pasted what was left together into something coherent. (Yeah, he failed at that.) Gone are things like the opening scene of Batman fighting Parademons and, later, the whole subplot about the Russian family. And, now, everything that’s left feels just more extended. It’s a pretty remarkable thing, because there were a lot of character motivations thrown on the cutting room floor that were just never bothered to be explained in any way, which resulted in a mess of a movie.

The legacy of Zack Snyder’s Justice League will most likely be that of an odd curiosity. And it will most likely wind up being the version of this movie that’s most accepted as the definitive version, kind of like how it’s pretty hard to track down the version of Blade Runner that has Harrison Ford’s narration. Personally, I could have lived my life peacefully without thinking about this movie ever again, but I don’t begrudge Snyder for wanting his version out there. Basically, “Hey, if you want to not like this movie, at least not like the one I wanted to make. Please judge me on my patented slow-motion shots set to sad music, not whatever that other movie had in it.” (And there is plenty of that.) And it is pretty remarkable he got a chance to do it. This really isn’t something that happens: a director who was replaced, coming back to reshape the movie into his once scorned vision. So that aspect I certainly find interesting.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League, inevitably, is not for me. It’s a vast improvement from the prior version – and, honestly, the fact there now has been more solo movies for these characters kind of retroactively helps this movie; like, we understand Aquaman’s deal now – but, in the end, it’s just a movie about trying to find magic boxes. It’s just a really long, more coherent version of that story. I certainly didn’t hate it like I hate the prior version – and, admittedly, I do like it more than Batman v Superman – but all the character motivation in the world still doesn’t help the foundation the whole thing is built on.

And I think Snyder himself might even know that, because there’s a 30-minute epilogue at the end of this movie that’s pretty interesting. Having some new, recently filmed footage in there, he at least knew he needed “something else.” Some weight. A scene giving us a glimpse into what the future of this story might have looked like, though it’s doubtful we’ll ever see it. It left me intrigued! But not enough to say I enjoyed watching all of the previous three and a half hours. Though, my mindset on this movie has changed from “a disaster” to “a competently made, interesting misfire.” And for people, like me, who aren’t totally on board with Snyder’s grand vision for these films, well maybe, in Snyder’s mind, that’s a win.

‘Zach Snyder’s Justice League’ begins streaming on March 18th. You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Tyson Fury was one of the fighters of the year in 2020, along with Teofimo Lopez, for his work in dispatching Deontay Wilder by way of 7th round TKO last February. A trilogy fight, as they fought to a draw in their first battle, was scheduled for December of last year, but word emerged early in 2021 that after that had been pushed back, the trilogy fight was off the table.

As such, Fury, the WBC champion and lineal champion, will seek to unify all the heavyweight titles in a megafight with the other top heavyweight in the world, fellow Brit Anthony Joshua, as the two sides have agreed to a deal, as Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn told ESPN’s Mark Kriegel.

“One of the fascinations about this fight will be the build-up because they’re two totally different characters, two totally different personalities,” Hearn said. “The mind games will be on another level for this fight. Tyson is very good at that. Anthony is excited by that…He’s so pumped, so focused, he hasn’t stopped training since the [Kubrat] Pulev fight [in December]. He’s like a caged lion. The buildup is going to be epic.”

Joshua holds the WBO, IBF, WBA, and IBO heavyweight titles and the winner of this fight will unify all of the major belts for the first time since Lennox Lewis, as the Klitschko brothers refused to fight each other and each lorded over one of the belts for the better part of a decade. It will be a massive fight and the plan is to complete a site bid within a month, with the expectation that a site in the Middle East will win the bid at least for the first bout — although there are bids in from all over, per Hearn — as that was likewise the site of Joshua’s rematch with Andy Ruiz.

When Taylor Swift’s Folklore took home the Grammy for Album Of The Year last night, collaborator Aaron Dessner took a moment to offer some thank-you’s. He had more to say than he had time to on stage, though, so after the ceremony was over, he took to social media to share a sort of extended acceptance speech.

He began his written message, “It has been an incredible journey since Taylor first approached me to write with her. From the moment she wrote Cardigan last April 28th — she unlocked a creative chemistry between us distinct from anything I’d previously experienced, and it led to the creation of two albums in 6 months that are incredibly dear to me — folklore and evermore. Thank you to the Recording Academy for recognizing folklore tonight. Taylor, Jack [Antonoff] and I could not be prouder of the work we’ve done together.”

After thanking some folks involved with the album and other people in his personal and professional life, he thanked Swift and declared that she “restored [his] faith in music and the ways in which it can help [him] and others”:

“And most of all thank you to Taylor. I am constantly humbled by and grateful for our friendship and collaboration. It’s such a strange thought that this time last year, we hadn’t even begun our journey together, since you are now such a big part of my life. You have restored my faith in music and the ways in which it can help me and others. In a year of such uncertainty and fear, I’m eternally grateful for the music we made. You generously shared your songwriting genius with me and others on these records — and made everyone involved feel appreciated and confident in their work. I can’t say enough positive things about you as an artist and a person.”

Find Dessner’s full statement below.

“It has been an incredible journey since Taylor first approached me to write with her. From the moment she wrote Cardigan last April 28th — she unlocked a creative chemistry between us distinct from anything I’d previously experienced, and it led to the creation of two albums in 6 months that are incredibly dear to me — folklore and evermore. Thank you to the Recording Academy for recognizing folklore tonight. Taylor, Jack and I could not be prouder of the work we’ve done together.

Thank you to my family: my beautiful wife Stine for constantly lifting me up with her indomitable spirit and supporting me through all of this, and to my children Ingrid, Robin and Mimi who inspire me every day.

Thank you Jonathan Low, my amazingly talented engineer and mixer who I’ve been fortunate to have working alongside my projects for the past decade.

Thank you Bryce, my loving brother, for your invaluable contributions to folklore — I would never have been able to do any of this without everything I’ve learned from and with you and your constant support. It is no surprise to anyone that your arrangements elevate the album to what it is.

My dear friend Justin who always picks me up when I feel down and who has given me a confidence in my music that I sometimes lose — your writing, voice and playing are vital parts of both these albums. I cherish our friendship and every single opportunity we have to collaborate.

Thank you so much to Joe for your brilliant writing and collaboration on both folklore and evermore — and for your friendship and spirit which have been a huge part of this unforgettable time.

Thank you to my bandmates in the National who I learned how to write and make records together without compromise — and all the artists I’ve worked with for giving me the chance to grow and learn from you.

Thank you to all of the people who lent their talents to folklore, especially Ben Lanz, Bryan Devendorf, Clarice Jensen, Dave Nelson, James McAlister, Jason Treuting, Josh Kaufman, JT Bates, Kyle Resnick, Laura Sisk, Rob Moose, Thomas Bartlett, and Yuki Numata Resnick.

Thank you to my management, Straight & Narrow Brandon, Shaun, Grant and Wayne, for all the work behind the scenes.

And most of all thank you to Taylor. I am constantly humbled by and grateful for our friendship and collaboration. It’s such a strange thought that this time last year, we hadn’t even begun our journey together, since you are now such a big part of my life. You have restored my faith in music and the ways in which it can help me and others. In a year of such uncertainty and fear, I’m eternally grateful for the music we made. You generously shared your songwriting genius with me and others on these records — and made everyone involved feel appreciated and confident in their work. I can’t say enough positive things about you as an artist and a person.

Finally, to all the nominees and to those who did not receive nominations (many of my most favorite artists have never received nominations of any kind), I applaud you for continuing to put your art out into the world. It is a vulnerable moment when you share a song or record with someone for the first time, and I find motivation in the community of songwriters, performers, producers, engineers and designers who keep finding the courage to launch brilliant music into our lives. Keep going.”

Last Week Tonight did its usual thing with John Oliver whipping through topics with ease and landing joke after joke before gliding into the show’s main segment. This week, the transition happened with both glee and regret. At around the 9:00 mark, Oliver announced, “Our main story tonight concerns, I’m sorry to say, Tucker Carlson, the man who gives Tuckers an ever worse name than they already have.”

From there, everyone had to know that the rollercoaster ride would begin. After all, there’s no love lost between Tucker and Oliver with the latter going to town over the former’s Dr. Seuss outrage (over “cancel culture”), his Elmo tantrum (over Black Lives Matter), and his preposterous defense of Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse. All of this builds up to the most “dangerous” way that Tucker manages to be (in Oliver’s words) a “terrible person,” which would be Tucker’s status as a white supremacist, despite pretending not to know what a white supremacist is:

“Of all the things that Tucker is, a conspiracy theorist, a misogynist, an Islamophobe, a troll, one of the most dangerous is that he is one of the most prominent vessel in America for white supremacist talking points. And I already know what Tucker will say about this because whenever this topic comes up, he has the exact same reaction: ‘What does that even. mean?’”

Oliver’s also got a few new nicknames here, too, including the following:

— “Oh f*ck off, Tucker, you relentlessly indignant picket fence.”

— “What are you talking about, you performatively outraged wedge salad? He’s packed a lot in there, from transphobia, to weirdly extolling the masculinity of China’s navy, to his completely misplaced outrage at Joe Biden over those flight suits.”

The latter nickname, of course, refers to Tucker’s recent takedown of female soldiers angered top military officials after he declared, “Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It’s a mockery of the U.S. military.” This led to a deluge of backlash from conservative and liberal circles alike, including names as varied as Joe Walsh (who tweeted, “Every woman in the military I’ve ever met could absolutely kick Tucker Carlson’s ass”) and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (who actually told Tucker to f*ck off before reheating her criticism of how he questioned her patriotism).

With so many people opposed to Tucker Carlson’s vitriol, though, is anyone on his side? A lot of people, actually. Oliver points out that Tucker scores over 3 million viewers each evening in various age groups, and there have been rumors that he’s mulling over a 2024 presidential run. He’s also won the praises of countless well-known white supremacists, including David Duke, and that’s why Tucker Carlson can’t be ignored — because of his countless on-air sentiments like this: “Maybe I don’t want to live in a country that looks nothing like the one I grew up in. Is that bigoted?” Yes, he’s said that and much more, which leads Oliver to this point:

“The point is, when you know how Tucker speaks when he speaks freely, the filter through which he processes the world for his audience becomes painfully apparent. Because he’s smart enough to not openly say into a camera that certain races are more deserving of scorn or less worthy of respect. He will just heavily imply that depending on who he’s talking about.”

As Oliver puts things, Tucker “couldn’t be more ethnically white than if he jizzed mayonnaise.” He breaks down Tucker’s misogynistic and perverted remarks to Bubba the Love Sponge and Tucker’s bow-tie adorned, racially-charged statements during the O.J. murder trial days when he wore a bow tie and made racially-charged statements, and so on. Then there’s his disrespect for Britney Spears, and his utmost respect for Pat Robertson, along with his stances on immigration and his wide-eyed wonder at whether affirmative action is actually racist. Not to mention his perspective that Democrats hate and want to dismantle America and his empathy for insurrectionists.

And yep, these sentiments reach millions of Fox News viewers every weekday night, so it’s no wonder that Oliver is unhesitatingly using the word “dangerous” to describe Tucker Carlson. Watch the full Last Week Tonight clip above.

Prior to today, Glenn Close had been nominated for seven Oscars — three times for Best Supporting Actress and four times for Best Actress; no times for playing the original live-action Cruella — with zero wins. That made her one nomination away from tying an ignominious record: the most Oscar nominations with no wins, set by Peter O’Toole.

Well, congratulations to Close, because she’s in the books now after getting her eighth nomination this morning for Hillbilly Elegy, a bad (terminator) movie.

Close will compete against Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), Olivia Colman (The Father), Amanda Seyfried (Mank), and Yuh-jung Youn (Minari) for Best Supporting Actress, mere days after being nominated in the same category at a less-prestigious awards show, the Razzies. With this rare feat, the actress tied another unwanted record:

Amy Irving (Yentl) and James Coco (Only When I Laugh) were previously nominated for both Oscars and Razzies for the same performance in 1984 and 1982… Other actors have received nominations for Oscars and Razzies in the same year, but for different performances, including Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me? and The Happytime Murders), Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side and All About Steve), and Jack Nicholson (A Few Good Men and both Hoffa and Man Trouble).

Pete Davidson must be feeling very conflicted.

(Via EW)

From the fraught first year that the Grammys acknowledged hip-hop, it was clear that the then-emerging genre and the old-Hollywood music business establishment that puts the show on each year would never see eye-to-eye. Hip-hop is a youth movement; the average age of the Recording Academy was well into middle age until very, very (seriously, like 2018) recently. Hip-hop comes from the experiences of mainly underserved Black, Latin, and Asian creators; the Grammys — again, until recently — have always been very, very white.

And while the Grammys have made a concerted effort to address its shortcomings regarding its treatment of rap and hip-hop, the genre itself has undergone massive changes since The Fresh Prince first led a hip-hop boycott of the 1989 ceremony to protest the Grammys not televising the new Best Rap Performance award. For one thing, The Fresh Prince is now better known for his extensive filmography and the extreme dad energy of his Instagram and TikTok posts than he is for his mic skills.

Meanwhile, the very attributes a rap performer must display to be taken seriously have changed from night to day. Rather than reeling off rapid-fire punchlines about how “Fresh” you are, you’re more likely to switch breezily from chattering double-time cadences to cool crooning. The synthesizers and programmed drums of the early years have given way to cavernous 808s thundering away over warped samples from classical music and drumless soul loops spinning away behind intricate, ultra-violent drug tales.

So, it’d be difficult for the Grammys to “get it right” even under the best circumstances. Yet somehow, incredibly, that’s exactly what the show managed to do this year — even if no one will ever be truly satisfied with the results. The field, which included projects from California newcomer D Smoke, Midwestern coke rap kingpin Freddie Gibbs, New Orleans mystic Jay Electronica, New York veteran Nas, and Motor City rhyme mechanic Royce Da 5’9, represented one of the most balanced group’s in recent memory, pulling from multiple regions, generations, and sounds, with one thing in common: A commitment to the original tenets of “dope rhymes over dope beats.”

And while any rap fan could find plenty to complain about — once again, there was a dearth of women nominated, despite the sharp uptick in overall representation over the past several years, and no artist nominated was under 30 — there’s going to be a breaking point between having legitimate concerns and just plain moving the goalposts. In prior years, the complaint went, “The Grammys are too commercial,” only selecting projects from artists with sales numbers and widespread press, letting the importance streams overtake the value of artistic vision.

While this is a position that’s already hard enough to defend, considering the subjective nature of artistic vision in the first place, the fact remains that the Academy took long strides in addressing those concerns this year. Acknowledging longtime underground favorites like Freddie and Royce, paramount musicianship from D Smoke, and the bulletproof legacy of someone like Nas, the Grammys sent a clear message: That they heard those prior years’ complaints and took them seriously.

So, of course, it’s only natural that rap fans find something else to take issue with — namely, Nas’ win over Freddie. While both albums were collaborative efforts between two of rap’s top technicians and a pair of well-established producers in Alchemist and Hit-Boy, the fact remains that Nas is the more recognizable artist between the two among Grammy voters. He’s been a perennial contender for Best Rap Album, and while playing “what if” is always dicey, it’s almost certain that a win for Freddie over Nas would have drawn just as many vocal protests after the Queensbridge icon was once again “snubbed,” adding to his double-digit list of losses.

The fact someone like Freddie Gibbs could even receive a nod is a victory in itself — especially when you consider how many other artists were considered snubs this year. Lil Baby had one of the most-streamed albums of 2020, a No. 1 single in “The Bigger Picture,” and many rap fans’ hopes riding on him to legitimize the trap rap movement in the mainstream purview. Despite multiple female artists releasing worthy projects in 2020 or late 2019, none were nominated. No year’s field could ever be perfect, but the Gibbs nomination proves the Grammys are trying.

It also shows that maybe just adding more Black, female, or “young” voters isn’t quite enough. There’s no guarantee that these measures will ensure significant variance between voters’ tastes — after all, Grammy voters also tend to run more “intellectual” and “refined,” which helps explain why rough-edged rappers like Lil Baby might fly under their radars. That said, the show’s producers picked up the slack elsewhere; newcomers like DaBaby, Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, and Roddy Ricch not only appeared on the show — one of the biggest platforms to help them launch their future bids for mainstream recognition — but Megan also won for other categories, while Chika and Doja Cat were mentioned among the Best New Artists of 2021.

Those moments count too. After all, Nas’ win was as much a result of his stature among Academy voters as it was a consolation for all the other golden gramophones he never got to display on his mantel. Cardi B pointed out as much before the show; just giving these under-the-radar artists the look helps them further their careers, which is the real goal. The Grammys aren’t the be-all, end-all. Like Nipsey Hussle — another Best Rap Album “snub” who won a different award posthumously the next year — said, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

Perhaps that’s the view rap fans should take with the Grammys’ halting progress toward a more perfect relationship with hip-hop. While rap is too broad and diverse a genre to ever be able to honor every artist in every nook and cranny of rap’s various versions, there’s nothing wrong with giving them credit where it’s due, even as we ask them to consider angles they haven’t yet. That’s what they’re trying to do — heck, it’s what we should all aspire to do — and when even getting “snubbed” helps artists so much, that’s an effort that should be appreciated.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

From the fraught first year that the Grammys acknowledged hip-hop, it was clear that the then-emerging genre and the old-Hollywood music business establishment that puts the show on each year would never see eye-to-eye. Hip-hop is a youth movement; the average age of the Recording Academy was well into middle age until very, very (seriously, like 2018) recently. Hip-hop comes from the experiences of mainly underserved Black, Latin, and Asian creators; the Grammys — again, until recently — have always been very, very white.

And while the Grammys have made a concerted effort to address its shortcomings regarding its treatment of rap and hip-hop, the genre itself has undergone massive changes since The Fresh Prince first led a hip-hop boycott of the 1989 ceremony to protest the Grammys not televising the new Best Rap Performance award. For one thing, The Fresh Prince is now better known for his extensive filmography and the extreme dad energy of his Instagram and TikTok posts than he is for his mic skills.

Meanwhile, the very attributes a rap performer must display to be taken seriously have changed from night to day. Rather than reeling off rapid-fire punchlines about how “Fresh” you are, you’re more likely to switch breezily from chattering double-time cadences to cool crooning. The synthesizers and programmed drums of the early years have given way to cavernous 808s thundering away over warped samples from classical music and drumless soul loops spinning away behind intricate, ultra-violent drug tales.

So, it’d be difficult for the Grammys to “get it right” even under the best circumstances. Yet somehow, incredibly, that’s exactly what the show managed to do this year — even if no one will ever be truly satisfied with the results. The field, which included projects from California newcomer D Smoke, Midwestern coke rap kingpin Freddie Gibbs, New Orleans mystic Jay Electronica, New York veteran Nas, and Motor City rhyme mechanic Royce Da 5’9, represented one of the most balanced group’s in recent memory, pulling from multiple regions, generations, and sounds, with one thing in common: A commitment to the original tenets of “dope rhymes over dope beats.”

And while any rap fan could find plenty to complain about — once again, there was a dearth of women nominated, despite the sharp uptick in overall representation over the past several years, and no artist nominated was under 30 — there’s going to be a breaking point between having legitimate concerns and just plain moving the goalposts. In prior years, the complaint went, “The Grammys are too commercial,” only selecting projects from artists with sales numbers and widespread press, letting the importance streams overtake the value of artistic vision.

While this is a position that’s already hard enough to defend, considering the subjective nature of artistic vision in the first place, the fact remains that the Academy took long strides in addressing those concerns this year. Acknowledging longtime underground favorites like Freddie and Royce, paramount musicianship from D Smoke, and the bulletproof legacy of someone like Nas, the Grammys sent a clear message: That they heard those prior years’ complaints and took them seriously.

So, of course, it’s only natural that rap fans find something else to take issue with — namely, Nas’ win over Freddie. While both albums were collaborative efforts between two of rap’s top technicians and a pair of well-established producers in Alchemist and Hit-Boy, the fact remains that Nas is the more recognizable artist between the two among Grammy voters. He’s been a perennial contender for Best Rap Album, and while playing “what if” is always dicey, it’s almost certain that a win for Freddie over Nas would have drawn just as many vocal protests after the Queensbridge icon was once again “snubbed,” adding to his double-digit list of losses.

The fact someone like Freddie Gibbs could even receive a nod is a victory in itself — especially when you consider how many other artists were considered snubs this year. Lil Baby had one of the most-streamed albums of 2020, a No. 1 single in “The Bigger Picture,” and many rap fans’ hopes riding on him to legitimize the trap rap movement in the mainstream purview. Despite multiple female artists releasing worthy projects in 2020 or late 2019, none were nominated. No year’s field could ever be perfect, but the Gibbs nomination proves the Grammys are trying.

It also shows that maybe just adding more Black, female, or “young” voters isn’t quite enough. There’s no guarantee that these measures will ensure significant variance between voters’ tastes — after all, Grammy voters also tend to run more “intellectual” and “refined,” which helps explain why rough-edged rappers like Lil Baby might fly under their radars. That said, the show’s producers picked up the slack elsewhere; newcomers like DaBaby, Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, and Roddy Ricch not only appeared on the show — one of the biggest platforms to help them launch their future bids for mainstream recognition — but Megan also won for other categories, while Chika and Doja Cat were mentioned among the Best New Artists of 2021.

Those moments count too. After all, Nas’ win was as much a result of his stature among Academy voters as it was a consolation for all the other golden gramophones he never got to display on his mantel. Cardi B pointed out as much before the show; just giving these under-the-radar artists the look helps them further their careers, which is the real goal. The Grammys aren’t the be-all, end-all. Like Nipsey Hussle — another Best Rap Album “snub” who won a different award posthumously the next year — said, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

Perhaps that’s the view rap fans should take with the Grammys’ halting progress toward a more perfect relationship with hip-hop. While rap is too broad and diverse a genre to ever be able to honor every artist in every nook and cranny of rap’s various versions, there’s nothing wrong with giving them credit where it’s due, even as we ask them to consider angles they haven’t yet. That’s what they’re trying to do — heck, it’s what we should all aspire to do — and when even getting “snubbed” helps artists so much, that’s an effort that should be appreciated.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

If you watched Judas and the Black Messiah, you’d probably come away with the assumption that either Daniel Kaluuya‘s Fred Hampton or LaKeith Stanfield‘s William O’Neal is the lead. One of those actors played the main character, so when Oscars time comes around, obviously one of them has to get the Best Actor nod for their standout performances, and the other would get Best Supporting Actor — or not.

In a move that has left social media very confused, both Kaluuya and Stanfield were nominated for Best Supporting Actor, which would seemingly suggest that Judas and the Black Messiah has no lead actor. It’s kind of a weird look when it comes to a film about one of the most prominent Black activists in America. Of course, submitting both Kaluuya and Stanfield in the supporting category could’ve been an intentional decision by the filmmakers, or even the actors themselves, so as not to elevate one over the other. But until we hear an official decision on the reason for Judas and the Black Messiah‘s missing lead, the confused Twitter reactions are pouring in.

Here’s how Kaluuya described playing Fred Thompson to Uproxx shortly after Judas and the Black Messiah’s release: “I had to step up and stand at my full height in order to reach the incredible spiritual heights that he reached. I did that. Then drop by drop a river is formed. I moved like that. Didn’t try and do too much too quick. Just little by little, and not beat myself and judge myself when I didn’t go in the right direction in the process of building an interpretation of Chairman Fred.”

And here’s Stanfield on the challenge of bringing humanity to FBI Informant Bill O’Neal: “You could see, even though he was attempting to try and be tough and not let his interior show, you could see, in little slivers in-between, what he didn’t say that he felt very guilty about what he did. You could see it in the [Eyes on the Prize] interview! ‘I felt bad about it, but I had to continue to play the role.’ The fact that he felt bad about it, that’s all I needed to know. Now I know that he’s a human being and, okay, now I can play you. I can’t play anyone that’s just not a human. But if you’re a human, I can play you.”

This year’s Oscars ceremony will air on April 25.

Last night was all about the Grammys, but movie fans have bigger news to digest now, as the nominees for the 93rd Annual Academy Awards have been revealed. There are some music breakouts there as well, and unsurprisingly, the composing duo of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are involved.

Reznor and Ross have a pair of scores nominated for Best Original Score, as both Mank and Soul (the latter of which they worked on with Jon Batiste) are nominated. Both films were also nominated for Best Original Score at the Golden Globes this year (and Soul won).

There are some noteworthy entries in the Best Original Song category as well: There’s “Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga (sung by Will Ferrell and Molly Sandén, the latter of whom Rachel McAdams lip-synced in the film), HER’s “Fight For You” from Judas And The Black Messiah, Celeste’s “Hear My Voice” from The Trial Of The Chicago 7, Leslie Odom Jr.’s “Speak Now” from One Night In Miami, and Lauren Pausini’s “Io Sì (Seen)” from The Life Ahead.

As Stereogum notes, Odom is also up for best Supporting Actor for portraying Sam Cooke in One Night In Miami, which makes him the third person (after Mary J. Blige and Lady Gaga) to be nominated in song and acting categories in the same year.

Check out the full list of nominees for the 93rd Annual Academy Awards here.

At every Grammy Awards ceremony, there are winners and losers.

Here, though, “loser” is a relative term. If you’re an artist who is doing so well that you’re at the Grammys at all, it’s hard to imagine that you’re anything but a winner. That said, if you’re particularly confrontational, “loser” might be what you call somebody who was nominated for an award and did not win that award. On the flip side, you could say that some artists didn’t lose: they won the right to keep their title of nominee (at the cost of not getting promoted to winner).

Then there are cases where you don’t need to glass-half-full the truth to declare somebody was a winner, whether they went home with a trophy or two or otherwise excelled during music’s biggest night. Last night’s Grammys ceremony was full of people who had different levels of success, so let’s get into who thrived and who didn’t quite do that, as well as who offered some of the evening’s biggest surprises.

Winner: Megan Thee Stallion

Meg had one of the best winning percentages of the night, taking home three of the four Grammys for which she was nominated — she won Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song (both for “Savage”), and Best New Artist, but didn’t claim Record Of The Year.

Outside of the awards themselves, Meg was notary-like with how she put her stamp on the evening. She and Cardi B made more modest-minded music admirers mad with a performance of “WAP” (more on that in a second). Even the Grammy Meg didn’t win, she kind of did win it. While Billie Eilish accepted the Record Of The Year trophy, she got behind the podium and mostly spoke about how Meg should have won it instead of her.

Loser: The structural integrity of “WAP”

It’s true that “WAP” was probably the biggest song of 2020. It’s also true that it wasn’t made for TV (or for any audible medium at all, according to Ben Shapiro). So, when it was revealed that Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion would be performing the hit during the Grammys broadcast, fans were ready to see a non-insignificant portion of the song left on the cutting room floor. That was true to the extreme. The lyric sheet for this version of the track looked like a brand new Madlibs book. I’m sure Cardi and Meg did all they could to bring “WAP” to the Grammys and they still delivered an entertaining few minutes of television, but the performance came across like they didn’t secure the rights to the song, so they got as close to actually performing it as they could without getting into legal trouble.

Loser: Jhené Aiko

As is tradition, the Grammys took a very long time. Even before the actual ceremony, there was the also-lengthy Grammy premiere ceremony, which the Recording Academy roped Aiko into hosting. Between that and the actual show, it was a long, grueling day for Aiko and she didn’t even end up winning any of the three Grammys for which she was nominated.

Thankfully, Aiko is an optimist. The hosting gig was a personal triumph for Aiko, as she wrote on Twitter, “i conquered a major fear of public speaking today by hosting the freaking Grammy Premiere Ceremony!!” She was even cool with not taking home a trophy, as she tweeted, “i know what its like to lose… do u? do u?! lol,” later adding, “what a crazy day! but its all good. love you all so much.”

Surprise: HER

In some ways, the Grammys are a popularity contest: If some no-name (not Noname) from the middle of nowhere made one of the year’s best songs, they’re probably not going to win a Grammy for it. The Recording Academy further proved that with their pick for Song Of The Year, as HER took home the prize over people like Beyonce, Roddy Ricch, Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Dua Lipa, and Billie Eilish. While HER is certainly a successful artist and “I Can’t Breathe” is an impactful song built on meaningful social justice themes, she’s not exactly a household name and her victory certainly left many viewers feeling like Michael Bluth:

Winners: Fans of normalcy

Over the past year-plus, pretty much every aspect has been entirely different than it was pre-pandemic. That includes The Grammys, but the fact that the ceremony even happened at all is a grounding force. Yes, the show wasn’t really like previous broadcasts in any way, but it was also as close to normal as any sort of live music event has been since early 2020. Considering the circumstances, the Recording Academy excelled with their broadcast. Delayed ceremony aside, one thing music fans have been able to count on towards the start of the year is finding out what music and artists the Recording Academy “secret commitees” deserve to be honored, for better or worse.

Losers: Fans of normalcy

That said, the whole thing was a bit weird, right? During performances, there were probably too many cuts to Trevor Noah and other artists in the room to forcefully drive home the point that everybody was actually there IRL. Those shots just hit different when it’s just one or two people side-stage instead of a big seated audience. Then, when the performances were done, the golf-level applause didn’t make the Grammys seem as epic as they usually do. Going the NBA route and piping in artificial fan noise wouldn’t have been a bad move.

The Recording Academy faced an impossible problem, but they still managed to put on a functional and entertaining show that offered plenty of highlights and made you forget this is an atypical Grammy year. Ultimately, though, it often felt less than grand, which, again, is really nobody’s fault.

Winner: Performance aesthetics

Sure, let’s flip this topic of Grammy normalcy around one more time. Usually, artists and their crews only have a few minutes to get an elaborate performance set-up onto the singular Grammy stage at the Staples Center. This year, though, the set-up made things different, arguably better. The multiple stages on-site allowed for performers to get their own look going in their own space, all with minimal time between performances. In an aesthetic highlight, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Aaron Dessner were all able to take to a mini cabin in a mystical-looking forest, for example, it feels like that something that gorgeous may not have been possible in a traditional Grammy year. Lil Baby’s cinematic performance that addressed police brutality definitely wouldn’t have been an eighth as impactful on a traditional stage.

Surprise: Jojo Rabbit

Taika Waititi himself would agree with this pick, as it seemed like he didn’t really expect the Jojo Rabbit soundtrack to win Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media over films like Frozen 2 and Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga. Waititi offered a simple “Lol wtfffff” on Twitter in reaction to the news, and during his acceptance speech, he noted, “I guess they’re just giving Grammys to anyone now! I’ll take it, thank you.” He went on, “It was so long ago, I can barely remember anything about making that movie — but it seems like it’s never going to go away, and I’m happy about that.”

So, if you don’t remember the Jojo Rabbit soundtrack, it’s OK because Waititi probably doesn’t either.

Winner/Loser: Masks

Whether this is a winner or loser is a matter of perspective. Audience shots at awards shows are usually the most fruitful vine from which to pluck plump, dank memes of celebrities who didn’t expect the camera to be on them at a share-worthy moment. In that regard, music fans and internet jokesters lose. Masks could be seen as a major victory for artists who didn’t pick up a trophy, though, considering a wearable specifically made to cover the lower half of your face makes it a heck of a lot easier to hide your disappointment when you come away from a category empty-handed. Frustrated cursing no longer has to be under your breath!

Winner: The entire Carter family

The Beyhive would never let me hear the end of it if I declared Beyonce a loser, so thankfully, she had an amazing night. For years, she has been climbing up the all-time Grammy wins list, and she made history this year by picking up more trophies to become the woman and singer with the most Grammy victories.

That would have been enough to get her on this list, but that was just one aspect of a multi-pronged night for Bey. She and Megan Thee Stallion became the first women to win Best Rap Performance with “Savage,” and on top of that, her daughter Blue Ivy managed to become one of the youngest Grammy winners ever. Jay-Z was the only member of his immediate family to not directly win a Grammy this year, except even that’s not quite true since he has a writing credit on the “Savage” remix.

So, in what was perhaps the least surprising takeaway from the evening (or from any day, really), the Carter family is doing quite well.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.