In Defense of Lady Gaga as Local Writer Labels Her as a Has-Been

I am just a casual pop culture observer but I am shocked at how uninformed and lazy some of our local music entertainment writers are!

I was reading this article on Lady Gaga's Grammy tribute to David Bowie and this writer says this about Lady Gaga -

"To be brutally frank here, she is “yesterday’s news!” A result of her being too trendy and relying too much on shock value are precisely the very reasons her music career took a nosedive to near obscurity"

"Lady Gaga’s time has passed."

Uhhhh hello sir, not to defend Lady Gaga because I'm sure she doesn't care about your opinion, but as a writer, he should've known that -

#1 Lady Gaga just won the Golden Globe Best Actress - TV Mini-Series for American Horror Story - Hotel last January. (I think her being 'weird' was the reason producer Ryan Murphy hired her in the first place!)

#2 Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Album in 2015. (Tony Bennett is one of the most-well-loved and respected performers by the American music academy. I don't think he would invite a singer who is already 'past her time' to do a FULL ALBUM with him.)

#3 Lady Gaga is slated to perform in the Oscar ceremony this Monday, February 29, because a song she co-wrote with Dianne Warren has been nominated for an Oscar. And, industry insiders believe they will win the award!

Joskoh, feeling ko, this writer wouldn't even know who Dianne Warren is!

Alam mo, if Lady Gaga wins the Oscar, along with Dianne Warren (who truly deserves to win one na talaga!), it will just show stupid and lazy some of our entertainment writers are.

I mean, how did the Inquirer even hire this guy if he cannot even be bothered to check basic facts. I'm sure if he just googled "Lady Gaga 2016", he would've known that these were the things she was doing these past two years.

Somebody who has "passed her time" won't win (or even get nominated!) for an Oscar, Grammy or Golden Globe in the years she's supposed to be laos.

Get it?

Grammys 2016: Kendrick Lamar Should Win Album of the Year

I know the Grammy Album of the Year will still be announced on Monday, but I already have two albums on my list that should figure prominently in the nominations for the Grammy's of 2017 - Adele's 25 and Justin Bieber's Purpose.

We all know that the music academy loves Adele but Justin Bieber will know if his fellow musicians really love him as well, if they bestow him a well-deserved Album of the Year nomination.

But that will have to wait till December this year.

The nominated albums this year are quite an eclectic bunch and I'm not surprised that Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly was there.

When it was released March of last year, I immediately bought the album, because I was really bowled over by his last album Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City.

Disappointingly though, I did not take too well with the new album. There are no clear 'singles' from this album and I found it too artsy.

The jazz influence was very strong and we all know very well that jazz is an acquired taste and you'd really have to have sophisticated ears to listen to it.

If you come from a bakya pop background like me, combining jazz and rap is not an easy palate of music to listen to.

However, I admire the great ambition Kendrick gave in album. He certainly achieved something that is sonically different from what he had done before as he included as many different beats and sounds in it.

Even the way Kendrick raps differs from track to track, depending on the way he wants to deliver his message.

Anyhow, I won't be surprised if Kendrick goes home with the award. It's about time that the academy honors someone from the rap world because they have snubbed the best works of Kanye West and Eminem - and that's fine with me - since I find these guys egotistical SOBs. That maybe the reason ninominate lang sila but the award was not given to them.

Kendrick though is very low key and seems humble to me. Maybe finally, the academy would vote a rapper this time for their highest award.

However, just like Beyonce last year, the spoiler for the award also has strong academy backing.

I'm sure the whole country membership of the academy would vote for Chris Stapleton's Traveller.

So you never really know till the winner is announced.