THE NAPPY AWARDS

Yo, the 47th annual Grammy nominations were announced today, where the official music industry tries annually to reward their best and brightest and always fucks up royally. For a complete list of the major nominees, check out their press release. Inspired by them, I have my own list of the top musical performances from the past calendar year, selected by me based on my own uniquely biased criteria. Since I've been blogging a lot about music lately, it seemed like as good a time as any to announce my 2004 Nappy Award nominees. Enjoy!:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Usher, Confessions
Modest Mouse, Good News for People Who Love Bad News
U2, How to Disarm An Atomic Bomb*
Prince, Musicology
Gomez, Split the Difference
Gwen Stefani, Love.Angel.Music.Baby

*-U2's album is ineligible for the Grammys because the release date cutoff is at the end of October and the whole point of the Grammys is to try and get you to buy the stale shit from the beginning of the year during the Christmas shopping season. Me, I don't care. If your album drops before the Grammy nominations are announced, you should be considered for Album of the Year. And if something better comes out between now and December 31st, I can drop you off my list. It's only fair...

AND THE NAPPY GOES TO...: In an unusually good year for pop music, I'd give it to U2, by a short and curly over Prince and Gwen Stefani.

SONG OF THE YEAR (Rock & Roll/Pop Division)
"C'mon, C'mon" by the Von Bondies
"Sweet Virginia" by Gomez
"Vertigo" by U2
"What Are You Waiting For?" by Gwen Stefani (with Linda Perry)
"Float On" by Modest Mouse

AND THE NAPPY GOES TO...: I go with whatever song gets stuck in my head the longest in each category, and the winner right now is Gwen Stefani. What an awesome solo debut!

SONG OF THE YEAR (Rap/R&B/Electronica Division)
"Triumph of a Heart" by Bjork and Tagqaq
"Yellow Brick Road" by Eminem
"Rain Man" by Eminem
"Wonderful Tonight" by Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim with/Lateef)
"Confessions, Part 2" by Usher
"Champion Requiem" by Mos Def

AND THE NAPPY GOES TO...: Usher, the singing mutant ninja turtle (squint when you look at him and you'll see what I mean) really bugs the shit out of me sometimes, but Confessions was a great R&B album and ..."Part 2" was the album's crowning achievement. He turns around his cheating ways and almost makes you feel sorry for him.

BEST NEW ARTIST (all divisions)
Nellie McKay
The Von Bondies
Cody ChestnuTT
Kanye West

AND THE NAPPY GOES TO...: I'm not totally sold on Kanye yet, but he did have an amazing year and "Jesus Walks" is a good song and pretty gutsy in the rap field, so my hat's off to him. Keep your eye on Nellie McKay though.

SPECIAL AWARD: COMEBACK ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Ray Charles
Prince
The Beastie Boys
Anita Baker

AND THE NAPPY GOES TO...: It would go to Ray Charles, but he died and that (combined with the biopic about his life) is the main reason he's got two albums on the charts. Call it cold-blooded, but I think the Nappy should go to living artists who might do more good work in the future. In this category, which is not a Grammy category, Prince is the clear choice.

And we're done. Because let's be honest, no one can keep track of all of those categories anyway.
Now, next time, I promise I'll get back on topic and write about Mos Def and more of the great lost albums. For now...peace out!