Well, that was….anti-climatic. My complicated relationship with the GRAMMYs is well-documented, but I continue to watch because the highs can be so high and the lows can be so very low. The GRAMMYs are provocative, they get the people going. Except this year they were, just, pretty cool. The performances were pretty cool, Iggy didn’t win for Best Rap Album which was pretty cool, Kanye fake interrupted Beck’s acceptance speech – that was pretty cool. It was, you know, good but not great and whatnot.  

That means I don’t really have some wildly passionate article about the 2015 GRAMMYs in me, but they’re still worth recapping, if only so we can make jokes and talk shit in the comments section. So plain and simple, here’s a rundown of everything you need to know about the 2015 GRAMMY Awards, and by need-to-know I mean what someone who cares about hip-hop needs to know (sorry best Historical Album). 

The Winners 

Album of the Year

Winner: Morning Phase, Beck
Beyoncé, Beyoncé
x, Ed Sheeran
In the Lonely Hour, Sam Smith
G I R L, Pharrell Williams

Record of the Year

Winner: “Stay With Me,” Sam Smith
“Fancy,” Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX
“Chandelier,” Sia
“Shake It Off,” Taylor Swift
“All About That Bass,” Meghan Trainor

Best New Artist

Winner: Sam Smith
Iggy Azalea
Bastille
Brandy Clark
Haim

Pop Solo Performance

Winner: “Happy,” Pharrell Williams
“All Of Me,” John Legend
“Chandelier,” Sia
“Stay With Me,” Sam Smith
“Shake It Off,” Taylor Swift

Pop Duo/Group Performance

Winner: “Say Something,” A Great Big World with Christina Aguilera
“Fancy,” Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX
“A Sky Full of Stars,” Coldplay
“Bang, Bang,” Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj
“Dark Horse,” Katy Perry featuring Juicy J

R&B Performance

Winner: “Drunk In Love,” Beyoncé featuring Jay Z
“New Flame,” Chris Brown featuring Usher and Rick Ross
“It’s Your World,” Jennifer Hudson featuring R. Kelly
“Like This,” Ledisi
“Good Kisser,” Usher

R&B song

Winner: “Drunk In Love” (Beyonce)
“Good Kisser” (Usher)
“New Flame” (Chris Brown)
“Options” (Luke James)
“The Worst” (Jhene Aiko)

Urban Contemporary Album

Winner: Girl, Pharrell Williams
Sail Out, Jhené Aiko
Beyoncé, Beyoncé
X, Chris Brown
Mali Is… Mali Music

Rap Performance

Winner: “I,” Kendrick Lamar
“3005,” Childish Gambino
“0 To 100 / The Catch Up,” Drake
“Rap God,” Eminem
“All I Need Is You,” Lecrae

Rap/Sung Collaboration

Winner: “The Monster,” Eminem featuring Rihanna
“Blak Majik,” Common featuring Jhené Aiko
“Tuesday,” I Love Makonnen featuring Drake
“Studio,” ScHoolboy Q featuring BJ the Chicago Kid
“Bound 2,” Kanye West and Charlie Wilson

Rap Song

Winner: “I” (Kendrick Lamar)
“Anaconda” (Nicki Minaj)
“Bound 2” (Kanye West)
“We Dem Boyz” (Wiz Khalifa)
“0 To 100 / The Catch Up” (Drake)

Rap Album

Winner: The Marshall Mathers LP2, Eminem
The New Classic, Iggy Azalea
Because The Internet, Childish Gambino
Nobody’s Smiling, Common
Oxymoron, Schoolboy Q
Blacc Hollywood, Wiz Khalifa

The Performances

Also

You should probably know that Kanye fake rushed the stage to interrupted Beck’s speech, which Beyonce was terrified of, but then really for real Kanye went off after the awards in classic fashion. 

“If they want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. Flawless Beyoncé video, and Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé.“

So even though Sam Smith absolutely cleaned up this year, as always, the real talk of the GRAMMYs tomorrow will be about Kanye. This year’s awards may have been largely forgettable, for better or worse, but once again it doesn’t really matter when it’s Yeezy season. 

Alright DJBooth Nation, let’s have it out in the comment section. See you there. (Oh, and by the way, Annie Lennox can motherfucking sing.)

[Nathan S. is the managing editor of The DJBooth and a hip-hop writer. He also occasionally talks in podcast form and appears on RevoltTV. His beard is awesome. This is his Twitter.]