For a man known for his ego, Kanye West has always done a remarkably good job of drawing the best out of other people and giving them space to shine. In fact it was very hard to narrow this list down to just five. But with apologies to Nas on “We Major”, Taleb Kweli on “Get Em High”, Kendrick Lamar on “No Parties in LA”, and Jay-Z, Cyhi the Prynce, and Pusha-T on “So Appalled” here are the best guest verses from Kanye West songs (tracks from his solo albums only):
5.) Rick Ross - “Devil in a New Dress” What really elevates this isn’t even so much the lyrics themselves, but Rick Ross’ delivery of them. Kayne uses Ross’ deep baritone voice and crisp articulation like a another instrument in the song. And he deploys it to perfection. The transition from Ross’ voice at end of “Devil in a New Dress” to the single spare piano note that starts “Runaway” is hands down my favorite moment on a Kanye West album.
4.) Chance the Rapper - “Ultralight Beam” As is already being talked about all over the internet, this feels like a star making verse. Kanye letting Chance steal the song from him almost feels like Eminem stealing “Renegade” from Jay-Z. And the expression of joy Kanye had on his face while watching Chance spit the verse on SNL is the same expression I have whenever I listen to it. It’s a good verse lyrically, but its real greatness is in its energy. Excited to see where Chance goes from here.
3.) Pusha T - “Runaway” Kanye famously made Pusha-T keep rewriting this because it kept not feeling brutally honest enough. Thank goodness he did. It’s now the best part of the best song on Kanye’s best album. The lesson, as always, is never question Kanye.
2.) Jay-Z - “Diamonds From Sierra Leone (remix)” “I’m not a businessman I’m a business, man”
Most people forget, but one of the most iconic lines in rap history, and perhaps the most famous line of Jay-Z’s career was actually from a guest verse on a Kanye song.
1.) Nicki Minaj - “Monster” As if #1 would be anything other than the ne plus ultra of guest verses. Nicki owes her entire career to this verse. It will never be topped.
Yes, the Grammys are a dumb pointless out-of-touch awards show, but they're also a fantastic night for televised live music performances. It's always my favorite TV watching night of the year, and this year was no exception. So who cares who won or lost, let's run through what really matters - each of the performances in order:
Taylor Swift
You know what’s NOT out of the woods? Taylor Swift’s singing ability. But at least she was able to come up with a great concept for the performance - singing "Out of the Woods" while literally emerging from a darkened area full of trees. I mean, where does she come up with this stuff???
Well, the good thing about being Taylor Swift at The Grammys is you know there's always next year.
Sam Hunt & Carrie Underwood
Close your eyes and imagine how a person named Sam Hunt would dress for their Grammy performance. Now open them - you were exactly right!
Speaking of appearances, interesting to see that country music dealt with losing Taylor Swift by making Carrie Underwood look just like her. “Maybe no one will notice it's a different person!”
Anyway, totally unmemorable performance by Country Music Ken and Barbie.
The Weeknd
You know who would absolutely hate The Weeknd’s 2016 Grammy performance? 2012 The Weeknd.
Before performing a serious stripped down ballad at the Grammys, it's always important to ask yourself “Am I Adele?” If the answer is no then do something else. In The Weeknd’s case maybe try doing one of the songs that got you here and represent what you do best. Or, ya know, the exact opposite of that.
Andrea Day & Ellie Goulding
“Hey, I know, let’s follow a guy standing around singing an unmemorable ballad in an unmemorable way with two women doing the exact same thing! That’ll be a real Grammy Moment!”
I fell asleep at some point so I missed the exact name of that song, but I’m pretty sure it was called “Polite Applause”.
Lionel Ritchie tribute
Wow an overly-long, bland, inoffensive Lionel Ritchie tribute - or as it's known on CBS, Monday night.
A few other thoughts:
-If the Grammys aesthetic could be distilled down to a single person, that person would be John Legend.
-Holy shit, Demi Lovato isn't Vanessa Hudgens! Who knew?
-Luke Bryan honoring Lionel Ritchie is one of those ideas that sounds ridiculous in theory, but is also ridiculous in practice.
-They would have let Luke Bryan sing longer but they didn't want his cruise ship to leave without him.
Little Big Town
"Hey look, country music can be just as boring as stuffy as “real” music!"
Everything you need to know about country music is that there's a big division in the industry between people who think "Girl Crush" is controversial and people who think it's clever, when in fact it's not remotely either. I do however like Little Big Town’s follow-up single, “He Gets It In The Butt” about the dangers of cigarette smoking.
The Eagles
Wait, which one of these people died again? Jackson Browne?
Nice performance by wax sculpture versions of the Eagles, but maybe next time program them to take it little less easy. Pretty sure they took that “I’m standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona” line a bit too literally this time. But it did wind up being a great PSA for prescription sleep-aid abuse. So that's nice.
Tori Kelly & James Bay
“Shhh, we don’t want to wake up The Eagles…”
Hamilton
HAMILTON HAMILTON HAMILTON! IN CASE OF HAMILTON PLEASE BREAK GLASS!!!
YES THE SONG WAS SLOWED DOWN TOO MUCH, AND YES EVERYONE LOOKED SLIGHTLY NERVOUS, AND YES “MY SHOT” AND “SCHUYLER SISTERS” ARE BETTER AWARDS SHOW SONGS BUT THEY’RE SAVING THEM FOR THE TONYS, BUT WHO CARES, HOLY SHIT IT’S HAMILTON!
As a theater person through and through I never thought I would see the day that a pop music awards show would be desperate to steal some of musical theater’s mojo, yet here we are. It’s a real shame the cast recording wasn't nominated for Album of the Year, but still, Lin-Miranda got contemporary musical theater onto the Grammy telecast. How lucky were are to be alive right now.
And now, in the immortal words of The Beastie Boys, no sleep til The Tony Awards.
Kendrick Lamar
THAT is why I tune into this ridiculous award show every year. Because every once in awhile something singular and visionary and incredible like that will slip through the cracks. And when it does, it feels like magic. It feels like an event. Like one of those “Moments” that the Grammys are so obsessed with talking about. But the lesson here is, as always, instead of trying to force a big Moment or manufacture them by committee, you just have to give an incredible artist with something to say the resources and space to execute their vision, and then get out of the way.
No one loves Kanye West more than me, but I really hope he was watching Kendrick because he could really learn something from that performance. We all could. The rest of the Grammys was entertainment; Kendrick made art.
Adele
There’s apparently no truth to the rumor that Taylor Swift was in charge of the audio for Adele’s performance. But even with all the sound issues, it's amazing that Adele was able to take the exact thing that has been so boring all night - people standing motionless singing overly-serious stripped-down ballads - and make it utterly captivating.
Also, do you think Adele already has her 2017 speech ready? If I were her I would just keep some spare acceptance speeches in my purse at all times - never know when you might need one.
Justin Bieber
I think I kinda…really liked that? Making a song overly serious and epic at the Grammys actually really worked for once. Is Jack U the new U2? Is Justin Bieber our new Bono? What world is this?
David Bowie tribute
Great performance by David Bowie’s Wikipedia Page!
On the one hand, if the Grammys had just said “Ladies and Gentlemen: Lady Gaga” and stopped right there, that would have been the best David Bowie tribute they could have possibly done. But on the other hand, at least they can now be sure that David Bowie is actually dead, because if he wasn't before, that tribute definitely killed him.
BB King tribute
Now THAT is how you pay tribute to someone. I want to buy music from every single person involved in that.
Chris Stapleton paying tribute to BB King is one of those ideas that sounds ridiculous in theory, but is actually awesome in practice. And man, Bonnie Raitt, that was some Melissa Etheridge/Janis Joplin-tribute level shit right there.
Well done all around!
Alabama Shakes
Man, Brittany Howard, that was some Melissa Etheridge/Janis Joplin-tribute level shit right there!
Excited that in Alabama Shakes, The Grammys have finally found their new Foo Fighters. I would listen to Brittany Howard sing literally anything.
Hollywood Vampires
“It’s music’s biggest night! We’re here to honor the very best in music! Now here’s a performance by Johnny Depp’s vanity band!”
That was offensive to me, but for absolutely none off the reasons The Hollywood Vampires wanted it to be. I mean I know Alice Cooper wanted some stage time to work on his Johnny Depp impression, but it would have been so much easier for them to just crash two small trains together and get it over with.
Pitbull
I have a lot of questions including: What? Why? Who? and How?
Remember the year that Arcade Fire won Album of the Year and then celebrated by playing another song to close the show? Serious question: why does that not happen every year? Just tell the five nominees to have a second song ready to go in case they win and then that song would close the show every year. It would be a cool tradition, and keep viewers tuned in til the very end. It's a perfect idea, which means instead, Pitbull will close the show every year form here on out. Which leads me to close this with the official motto of the Grammys: “Ugh”
As sort of a personal record for myself, at the end of every year I like to write about my favorite bits of culture from the year. A time capsule if you will, of my thoughts on the best things from the year that was. I capped the list at 25 this year, so with deep apologies to Season 2 of You're the Worst, the cast of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Saiorse Ronan in Brooklyn, the escape scene in Room, the epilogue of Spotlight, and all the things from 2015 I haven't had the chance to experience yet (Making a Murderer, The Big Short, Cate Blanchett in Carol, etc.) here’s what mattered most to me in 2015, presented in no particular order:
1. Togetherness
So clearly I’m going to be biased when it comes to TV shows about people living on the Eastside of Los Angeles working in the entertainment industry and taking trips to Houston…but this show just might be perfect. It’s just so many things I love from my entertainment: complex yet recognizable characters and situations, quietly profound observations about life, subtly heartbreaking moments mixed with realistic happiness, wit and humor the way they appear in actual life, conversational dialogue that feels loaded yet lived in, a real connection to the way the world actually works, and most of all, four of the best performances on TV. Seriously, can we just give these four a collective acting Emmy and then just cancel the rest of the Emmys? Their work is uniformly awe-inspiring. It’s impossible to pick a favorite of the four.
On a broader note though this is exactly the kind of project that 10 years ago would have been made as an indie film. Even five years ago maybe. But the funding for films like this - subtle contemporary non-awards-bait character studies - just isn’t there anymore. So now these stories are moving to premium cable. And maybe we’re all better off for it. Imagine if this had only been a two hour movie, think of all the character development we would have missed. It would have been criminal.
Independent filmmaking is dead; long live independent filmmaking.
2. “Nashville” - Master of None
It makes sense that Master of None was inspired by the films of Hal Ashby and Woody Allen since high-end TV is the new auteur cinema. And if TV in the 2010s is where movies were in the 1970s, then the Nashville episode of Master of None is not only the best romantic comedy of the year, it might just be our Annie Hall.
3. Left Shark
Just as we all predicted, in 2015 the most profound and culturally resonant metaphor for the human condition would come from a guy at the Super Bowl dancing in a shark costume. #WeAreAllLeftShark
4. Aretha Franklin at The Kennedy Center Honors
Dropping the coat is the new dropping the mic. And no one will ever do it better.
5. Mad Men finale
Sure the final season lost the narrative thread of the series a bit. And sure, the finale was super fan-service-y. But also it was wonderful and they shouldn’t change a thing about it. Because really who doesn’t want to see all their friends get happy endings? And if you didn’t get emotional at Stan and Peggy I don’t know when you ever will.
But ultimately, in the end, as in the in beginning, this was Don Draper’s story. America’s story. Our story. The story of how we journey a very long way out of our way just to go a very short distance. Or maybe to go nowhere at all. The story of how we’re always pitching, always selling ourselves to the world around us, but never outrunning who we are and how we began. Like life, Mad Men was never about what it seemed to be about. But also it was. So of course it ended with a bang that felt like a whimper. Because that’s life. And I wish it could have gone on forever.
(Before we go here, we’re all going to collectively fund the Sally Draper spinoff series, right? Like, that’s definitely happening, isn’t it? It better be. And speaking of spinoffs…)
6. Better Call Saul
It’s shocking how much better season one of this show was than it needed to be. It was so good in fact, it makes me reconsider every opinion I thought I had about Breaking Bad.
I thought Breaking Bad was a terrific show, an all-timer, but as a ride-or-die member of #teamMadMen I also thought it was maybe more entertaining than great. More style than substance. And maybe it was. But maybe it doesn’t matter. Because with Better Call Saul Vince Gilligan definitively proves that there’s no one in the world better at the CRAFT of television. He’s not precious, or exacting, or tortured – he just makes great TV. I feel like you could just call out a suggestion, improv-show style, and he could make a great show out of it. Better Call Saul just FEELS like a great show. And it is. And it’s great in ways that seem both effortless and impossible in equal measure.
Vince Gilligan and his team are magicians.
7. Mad Max: Fury Road
It’s like George Miller took on the “why don’t they make the whole plane out of the black box material” question as a filmmaking challenge. He made a whole movie out of just the action sequences, and whaddya know - it worked! No real exposition or backstory or cumbersome plot – just "these people seem bad", "these other ones seem good", "water is scarce, women seem oppressed, the good guys are headed somewhere, and the bad guys are chasing them". That’s all we’re really told, and that all we need to know. Turns out audiences don’t need their hands held. A genre film that trusts its audience and itself shouldn’t feel like a miracle, but it does. And for as much has been rightly made about the feminism of Mad Max, for me what seems most revolutionary about the film is how old fashioned it feels. It hopefully is going to mark a turning point in the road back to practical effects, lived-in non-CGI production design, and minimalistic storytelling. Hollywood blockbusters can’t get any bigger or bolder at this point. As Mad Max shows, the only place left to go is to make them better.
8. Missy Elliott - “WTF” video
Missy Elliot is so far ahead of her time we will never catch up.
9. The Late Show with David Letterman finale
I’ve written previously about how much The Late Show with David Letterman meant to me (still feels weird to refer to it in past tense) and as someone who often felt like Dave was a member of the family I can attest that final show of his reign was perfectly and totally him. Self-depreciating, understated, genuine, almost apologetic for its very existence, yet with a midwestern sense of respect and recognition for those who helped make it possible. After years of phoned in shows and general indifference it was Dave at his very best. And the closing montage made me weep more than some people who have lost actual family members. It closed not only chapter of my life, but a chapter of our collective history. And there will never be another quite like it.
10. The Jinx
The best ever murder mystery that wasn’t even remotely a mystery. And speaking of finales, it’s amazing that an ending that seems so obviously preordained could still be so shocking when it actually happens. It’s an ending that could someday be equaled, but will never be topped. It’s a landmark of televised non-fiction. And it’s incredible that it all came together like it did. It feels like a unicorn. More unicorns please.
11. The Community Series Finale Tag
Wow, what a year of series finales, and perhaps none was more “on brand” than Community ending its run with a season that no one knew existed, on a website that no one goes to, and capped off with an absurdist, high concept, deeply insider-y and self-referential “bit” examining the nature of reality. It’s as great and as weird as it sounds. And since I’m sure you probably didn't see it, go to Yahoo Screen now and watch the final three minutes of episode 13 of Community. Or just watch it here if it didn't get taken down yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1Pf_X_mgwM
12. 3 & 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets
While we’re on the subject of things no one saw, in the proud tradition of Resolved and Hot Coffee, 3 & 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets is this year's superb, social relevant HBO documentary that should be required viewing for all Americans. In the year of #blacklivesmatter, Michael Dunn's phone calls, particularly his final one, sum up the racial problems in this country better than 100 think pieces ever could. It's this year's Fruitvale Station, and unless more people watch and address the issues it illuminates, versions of this film will be made every year.
13. Inside Out
Like all the best Pixar movies, I wonder if kids enjoyed this at all, because it certainly doesn't seem like it was made for them. A dive into the heartbreak and deep melancholy of growing up hardly seems like what kids want in their movie-going experience. But it is very much what I want. A movie that is funny and sad in equal measure, that feels deeply personal yet inherently universal, that is unlike anything you've seen before, that shocks and challenges its intended audience, that is incredibly smart and well constructed, that gets at something complex and real about the human condition, that has Oscar-caliber performances (in this case Amy Poehler and especially Richard Kind, as Bing Bong, the heart and soul of the film) - these are all the things I'm hoping to get when I go to the movies. And they are what Pixar delivers time and again. Good god I love them so.
14. John Hancock III – “Left Me”
This is without a doubt the greatest and most important thing anyone named John Hancock has ever had his name on.
15. Rachel Bloom on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Crazy Ex-Girlfriend shouldn’t work for sooo many reasons and yet it does for one crucial one - Rachel Bloom. She is so watchable and likable and talented that she makes what should be a problematic mess into the most purely enjoyable show of 2015. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is Exhibit A in the value of giving brilliant people carte blanche to follow their muse wherever it takes them. Who knew The CW had it in them?
16. Black Cindy’s Judaism speech – Orange is the New Black
One of the best things about OITNB has always been its insanely deep bench of actors. If before this season you had been asked to name the ten best actors on the show Adrienne C. Moore probably doesn't make too many of those lists. And yet, now it would seem insane to leave her off. And a big part of that is not only increased screen time and great overall work, but her speech in the finale about converting to Judaism. It was not only incredibly well acted but it also summed up the OITNB ethos - a seemingly ridiculous and often comic premise taken to its humanist and moving conclusion. And for Adrienne C. Moore that conclusion could and should be the stage on Emmy night 2016.
17. Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
This feels like cheating a bit because Kurt Cobain is one of the most fascinating subjects of the 20th century, but Montage of Heck really might be the greatest ever realization of documentary-as-art-form. Interviews, home movies, original animation, private audio recordings, found footage, stock clips - all blended together into something completely new – it really is a montage of heck. It all took Brett Morgan eight years to make, and it shows, in the best way possible. It’s a true work of art, not just a delivery system for information. It’s a story that lets you create your own narrative. By the end everything about Kurt Cobain and his journey seemed to make perfect sense to me, and yet also none of it made any sense at all, including the fact that he even ever existed in the first place. It’s all just so tragic and so beautiful. So profound and so meaningless. It’s an emotionally wrenching ride straight into the heart of genius, angst, alienation, and the last dying gasps of monoculture. 500 years from now when people want to understand my generation, this is all they need to watch. Note to the future: Keep the tissues handy.
18. Alessia Cara – “Here”
I love this song now, but it legitimately terrifies how many times I would have listened to this song if it came out when I was in high school. Like I might really never have left the house. Which is kind of the whole point I guess.
And if the song wasn't already great enough, Alessia Cara’s Tonight Show appearance is the greatest a-star-is-born late night talk show musical performance since Janelle Monae broke out with “Tightrope" on Letterman.
This one is gonna be with us for a very long time.
19. Show Me a Hero
David Simon doesn't make reality shows; he makes reality shows. Ones that sadly, still, no one watches. Their loss. Because in probably the greatest year ever for television this was hands down the best thing on it. Its a series I still think about daily. About Oscar Issac’s Oscar-caliber work. About Paul Haggis’ great direction (a sentence I literally never thought I’d say). And about David Simon’s peerless humanistic exploration of the real societal forces that make our world the way it is.
My other favorite TV writer Aaron Sorkin once penned the line “you can’t handle the truth”. But that’s all David Simon ever aspires to do. It’s just a shame more people don’t want to watch him try.
20. Wilco – “Name Generator”
In case you were wondering how white I am, this song was easily the most played song in my iTunes for 2015. And in case you’re wondering why I love Wilco so much, I’m a person who still listens to music using iTunes, so I’m basically their target demographic.
21. Ryan Adams - 1989
This idea could have worked only half as well as it did and it still would have been my favorite album of the year. It was also the exact thing that Ryan Adams was put on this earth to do.
22. March 19th Daily Show segment – “Mighty Morphin Position Changers” The Daily Show with John Stewart is the greatest television program of all time. It not only did a tremendous job of being entertaining, but it also had a vital daily impact on shaping the national political conversation. No TV show has ever, or in our increasingly fractured age, likely will ever be simultaneous as great at both things. It’s as though 60s-era Walter Cronkite was also the permanent host of 70s-era SNL. And now, post-Jon Stewart the show goes on, but it doesn't really. Now it’s just another show on the dial. Because as good as Trevor Noah may or may not be, it’s besides the point. No one else will ever have the respect, the moral authority, the voice-of-God-from-on-high nature that Jon engendered. And with that, it’s segments like this one that we as people have lost with his retirement. Sure, this exact piece could technically be duplicated by someone else. But the mic drop at the end of it has a power and impact that no other entertainer will ever be able to duplicate. A perfect message will now always have an imperfect messenger. The king is dead; the king is dead forever.
23. Kanye - “All Day” at the Brit Awards
“Kanye Awards Show Performances” is my favorite YouPorn category.
24. Bojack Horseman
As people have always said, the best way to reveal difficult truths about the nature of humanity is with an animated comedy about an anthropomorphic horse. This is not only my favorite TV show, it’s also my TV soulmate. It’s almost more than that - If I tried to imagine the perfect TV show for me personally, this is even better than the show I would have come up with. It’s a miracle it exists, and I’m gonna keep putting it on these year end lists for as long as they keep making it. #Bojack4lyfe
25. Hamilton
I’ll try and keep this brief…
This list isn't ranked in any way except for this: Hamilton will go down as the most lasting and impactful artistic creation of 2015, and I don’t think the competition is even remotely close. Like The Beatles of theater, Hamilton has transcended its art form and become bigger than everything else in its medium combined. It’s so big that the President of the United Sates can go see it, and the show itself can still seem like the bigger deal. It’s like a supernova, engulfing the matter of everything that should come in its wake. Its cast album topped the Billboard RAP CHARTS for gods sake. The viralvideosithasspawned populate the Internet. It’s the ultimate status symbol in the ultimate status symbol town. But most importantly, it’s not just a mere phenomenon. It’s a new way forward. By using the contemporary music of the day to tell an epic story with a diverse cast, it connects musical theater’s past to its future. It has the power to single-handedly give new life to an entire art form that was virtually dead as a mainstream force. Hamilton is the defibrillator for the American Theater. And if that's not powerful art, then I don't know what is.
