HOT: Trump Team Revives “Shut Up and Sing” Trope
On the day of the 2018 Grammys ceremony, the Trump administration got into the spirit by offering some indirect, unsolicited music commentary. First, POTUS found time to chide multiple Grammy nominee Jay-Z for not giving him credit for everything he has done for African-Americans. Then U.N. ambassador expressed her disappointment in the Grammys for “ruin(ing) great music with trash.” The ire of Nikki Haley was drawn by the show’s attempt at humor and light political commentary in a skit in which various musicians (and Hillary Clinton) auditioned to be the audiobook narrator of the Trump White House book Fire and Fury. “Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it,” Haley tweeted in a shrewd throwback tribute to the patriots who burned Dixie Chicks records after the trio criticized George W. Bush. Haley’s music-critic credentials were first established in 2013, when she wrote this:
Heard who “Who Let the Dogs Out” by Baha Men on the way to Chester County! Forgot how fun that song was!
— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) February 27, 2013
WARM: Tone-Deaf Tone
The Grammys are perennially pressured to show more musical diversity in the general award categories, and the Recording Academy usually acquiesces. They’ve never come out and said, “Maybe if Hip Hop artists just tried harder.” Inconceivably, especially given the current social climate, that’s essentially how Recording Academy prez Neil Portnow responded to those upset by the low number of female artists nominated, telling Variety that women are always welcome, they just need to “step up.” The industry’s only responsibility, he suggested, was to “make the welcome mat very obvious.” How long before Portnow is asked to “step down”?
COLD: Music and Naming Trends
A recent survey of baby-name trends by names.org showed how the rise in popularity of several monikers is tied to the popularity of certain music stars. According to the study, Pop icon Mariah Carey has lent her name to the most babies. While the numbers spiked during career peaks (and dipped during downturns like Glitter), the number of baby girls named Mariah has remained at a level much higher than before Carey was famous. The study also found naming surges related to the success of everyone from Aretha Franklin and Sheena Easton to Adele and Rihanna. As for boys, in the Top 20, only former One Direction singer Zayn Malik was shown to have had a unique corollary impact, though the impending thousands of baby Lil Uzis will likely change that in time for next year’s survey.
This article appears in Jan 24-31, 2018.
