This is America has made Grammy history by winning both Record and Song of the Year.
The 61st Grammy Awards took place last night (10 January), with Childish Gambino’s This is America (aka Donald Glover) winning prizes for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Performance. With a politically striking video directed by frequent collaborator Hiro Murai, This is America also scooped the award for Best Music Video.
While Glover’s Feels like Summer was nominated for Best R&B Song, the category was won by Ella Mai for Boo’d Up.
This year’s celebration marks the first time that a hip-hop record has won in the Record and Song of the Year categories, considered to be two of the four most important awards of the ceremony.
Despite being one of the night’s biggest winners, Glover did not attend the Grammys, with the award for Song of the Year being accepted on his behalf by host Alicia Keys and the track’s producer, Ludwig Göransson. Reportedly, Glover declined an invitation to perform at the Grammys, alongside Drake and Kendrick Lamar. Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich has put this down to the awards ceremony’s weak standing in R&B circles, with him stating: “The fact of the matter is, we continue to have a problem in the hip-hop world.”
Göransson also won the Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for his acclaimed Black Panther score. Other notable award winners include Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour for Best Album of the Year and Best Country Album, Cardi B’s Invasion of Privacy for Best Rap Album, St Vincent’s Masseducation for Best Rock Song, The Carters’ Everything is Love for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Kendrick Lamar and Anderson .Paak tied for Best Rap Performance.