The annual Grammy Awards mark highlights and milestones in the careers of many artists.  For those that grew up dreaming about a life of music stardom, it gets no better than hoisting a golden gramophone trophy.  A nomination in and of itself is recognition of outstanding achievement in the recording arts.  Yet, while Grammy night can mean so much to individual artists or groups, this years’ awards show was a banner night for an entire genre: Urban.  Urban artists shined not only as nominees and winners, but also as performers, commandeering the stage at L.A.’s Staples Center.  We’re proud to be a part of the most relevant genre in music today and we couldn’t help ourselves from breaking down the massive success of Urban at this year’s Grammys.

Nominations

No genre was as well represented when it came to nominees.  Among the artists who received multiple nods, Eminem lead the pack with ten, followed by Bruno Mars with seven, Jay-Z and Lady Gaga with six, John Legend and B.o.B with five, and Drake, Rihanna, Cee Lo Green, Katy Perry, and Alex Da Kid with four each.

Four out of the five nominees for Record of the Year were Urban (“Nothin’ on You” – B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars, “Love The Way You Lie” – Eminem feat. Rihanna, F*** You – Cee Lo Green, “Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z & Alicia Keys); as were three of the five nominees for Album of the Year (Recovery – Eminem, The Fame Monster – Lady Gaga, Teenage Dream – Katy Perry).

Winners

Lady Gaga grabbed three Grammys including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Bad Romance” and Best Pop Vocal Album for The Fame Monster.  It was a good night for rappers with Jay-Z collecting three awards and Eminem bringing home the Best Rap Album nod his, Recovery.  The future looks bright as well as Esperanza Spalding beat out fellow Urban nom’s Justin Bieber and Drake for the Best New Artist Award.  Young upstart Bruno Mars won the Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for his catchy “Just The Way You Are.”

Performances

The broadcast opened with a tribute to soul queen, Aretha Franklin in which Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Yolanda Adams, Martina McBride, and Florence Welch traded licks across some of Franklins most well-known and loved hits.  Aside from Welch who looked and sounded out of her depth alongside the other women, the ladies nailed it, bringing down raining applause from the audience.  Oh, and hats of to Aguilera for getting back on the horse after her Super Bowl Anthem disaster – she was back with a vengeance.

Lady Gaga was next as she emerged from a translucent egg to take the stage for what was perhaps the most anticipated performance of the evening.  The frantic rendition of her new single, “Born This Way” was executed in typical Gaga fashion – complete with dancers and a Baroque organ break down.

After a few seconds of shticky dialogue with his mentor, Usher, and an acoustic chorus of the mega-hit “Baby,” Justin Bieber launched into the theme of his new rockumentary “Never Say Never” and made some room for a cameo by fellow kid star Jaden Smith.   There was no hair whipping but there were a few proud grownups in Will and Jada Pinkett Smith as well as Usher who returned to the stage to perform his hit “O.M.G.” with Bieber chiming in at the tail end.

Blending the fashion senses of Elton John and George Clinton, Cee Lo Green sat at the piano and was backed by a band of Fraggle-Muppets for a rendition of the 2010 internet smash, “F*** You.”  Despite a forgettable appearance by Gwyneth Paltrow (I mean really, she plays a singer in one film and now has to sing on every awards show?) and flubbing the second line of the first verse Green delivered a light hearted and free spirited performance that fit both the set and the overall tone of the song.

Perched on a swing high above the crowd, Katy Perry delivered a sweet version of “Not Like The Movies” before returning to the ground and inviting the crowd to sing along to her feel good anthem “Teenage Dream.”  Even Nicole Kidman was mouthing the words.

In her first performance of the evening, Rihanna set the stage for Eminem who delivered a fiery verse of their song “Love the Way You Lie.”  Rihanna was good but Em’s emotion was palpable and he stole the show on this one.  As Skyler Grey sang “I need a doctor,” Dr. Dre emerged to add a verse to what may have been the best performance of the night.  Rihanna returned to the stage one more time for “What’s My Name,” with Drake.

Urban was all over this year’s Grammy Awards and there’s no indication that next year will be any different.  So keep your eyes and ears on our Affix Music Providers, you may be seeing them accepting some hardware next February!

Congratulations to Bobby Ray, and our Music Providers SMKA who had a small part in the creation of the record. 7King with SMKA played guitar on a couple tracks (“Past My Shades” “Letters from Vietnam”) and has been touring with Bobby Ray for over a year now. Congrats to everyone in the camp!

We’ve been fans of what B.o.B has been doing for quite some time at Affix ever since our good friend Tommy with Greg Mike started playing the mixtape in our office last year.

As a matter of fact, checkout the video for “No Man’s Land” from the B.o.B mixtape here. It was shot close to our old office – so close that the Greg Mike “Popstar” has a cameo in the video at 1:11.

Michael has been going to see him live for quite some time and I had the chance to see what I considered a career making performance on the main stage at Coachella last month.

If you haven’t already, check out the record and go see this artist live.

Urban Redefined.

Simon

Babyboi95 is a music producer, songwriter & audio engineer on the rise for Bb95 Music Group/ Nappy Boy Digital.  He is also one of those guys that seems to have more than 24 hours in his day.  Recently he has been working with host of artists, including Grammy award-winning T-Pain, Fonzworth Bentley, B.O.B, Tay Dizm, , J-Bo of Youngbloodz, Yung Joc & many others.  At the same time, he maintains his full-time job as a high school teacher, all the while pursuing his passion of philanthropy.  Together with Terri Sherman of Lex Promotions & Marketing, he is co-founder of “The Sessions”, a national program that provides up-and-coming producers with the tools they need to succeed in today’s competitive music business environment.  And we thought we were busy…

We’re perhaps as proud to represent Babyboi95 and his music for licensing as he is of the many youths he mentors, and we think you’ll be as inspired as we were when conducting the following Q&A.

Q. What was the first record that inspired you to become a professional in the business?

A.  Wow, I’ll never forget it….Kool Moe Dee – How You Like Me Now!!  I used to rap that record over and over til the tape popped!!! LOL!!

Q. Who are your musical idols?

A. Rick Ruben, Outkast, Mos Def & Dr.Dre, to name a few.

Q. What is Urban Music to you?

A. Urban music is a movement. All the way from turntables, graffiti, break dancing and lyrical craftwork!  It connects people from different walks of life by giving them ways to relate.

Q. How has the perception of Urban Music changed over the years to the general market?

A. It’s become a lot stronger! It’s gone from being underground to mainstream! It’s gone from being a small segment to the main attraction.

Q. Is there a brand in mainstream media that is getting Urban Music right?

A. I think Coke is trying to get it right.  I’ve seen how some of their commercials are showing how genres are beginning to merge more and more.  I saw a cartoonish commercial where Rock was illustrated a bald, buff guy with tattoos and Hip Hop was personified by a dog.  When Rock would speak it sounded like a guitar and when Hip Hop would speak it would sound like a DJ scratching.  By the end, the two shared a Coke and the scratching was then laid over the rock track!  I knew then Hip Hop was definitely more visible in the mainstream.

Q. What’s in your iPod right now?

A. Telepopmusik, Miles Davis, Lucy Pearl, Green Day, the ENTIRE 80′s catalog, Ben Folds Five and whatever track I just made!

Q. Outside of music what are you passionate about?

A. Helping others!  I still maintain my day job as a HS teacher because I love inspiring kids. I want to be responsible for saving at least 1 life…if I save more, GREAT!

Q. I know you’re passionate about working with young people & at risk teens, how did that start for you?

A. I was basically thrown away by my teachers coming up and I never forgot that feeling.  I told myself I would prove them wrong because the best reply to a hater is your success.  After receiving so many blessings, I felt it was my job to return the favor and save a child. No matter how mad a child makes you, they’re still a child. We have to remember that and guide them.

Q. As a producer, what is it that gets you excited about working on a project or that draws you to an artist?

A. Creative freedom!  I love artists that take chances but maintain their integrity!  That’s what drew me into Fonzworth Bentley’s project.

Q. Name one song that you love that would surprise us.

A. The Clash – “Rock The Casbah”.

Q. Ok, here’s one for you:  You have 24 hours on lockdown in a studio & have to come up with a #1 hit – a smash song.  Who’s on the dream team in there with you?

A.  How’s my budget!!?? HAHAHA!!! Ok…I’ll take Jon Brion, Pink, Javier (Pain’s Engineer) & Andre 3000.

Q.  Since you have a great perspective on your own brand, how do you feel about music being used to strengthen another brand?

A. I’m all for it! I feel once people have their fan base, they should use that influence….but in the right way!

Q. Any parting words?

A. I feel we are blessed with success for a reason, which is to help another person become success.  Thank you for having me!

To license some of the same music that is attracting so many prominent artists to BabyBoi95, check out his artist profile on to www.affixmusic.com.

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