Welp! The 2016 Grammy Awards ceremony was mostly underwhelming. Perhaps because a lot of big named artists were visibly missing from the red carpet.
Nicki Minaj reportedly pulled out of her Grammy performance this weekend. Rihanna cancelled her performance, and Drake was noticeably missing. Lauryn Hill was going to do a surprise performance with The Weeknd, but because of her performance schedule, she wasn't able to attend.
All of this is interesting, because earlier this month, Snoop Dog said that he was not attending after saying that the Grammy's was just as whitewashed as the Oscars.
I'm not saying that the Grammy's appeared to have a silent boycott, but it is odd to me that a lot of TIDAL artists were missing from the biggest awards show at the same time. Even Twitter noticed it.
Either way, the party continued, and there were some great moments, starting with the red carpet. There were several people who stood out among the rest.
For instance, Jazmine Sullivan had more curves than a bottle of coke in her black, floor-length Michael Costello gown.
Also, Big Sean set off smoke alarms on Twitter in a black and white tuxedo blazer and slacks. Heeey Almond!
You can't tell me that their #RelationshipGoals isn't giving you all the feels with this photo. Hands down, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen were the cutest couple on the red carpet.
But that's about it. There wasn't much to the red carpet this year. Again, a lot of people were visibly missing.
KENDRICK LAMAR'S BIG WIN
I have to admit that I thought the awards show was going to really bad after the skinny red carpet. However, Kendrick's win for "Rap Performance of the Year" helped to make the night a little more promising.
O'Shea Jackson Jr. and his dad Ice Cube presented Kendrick with the first award of the night. When he gave his speech, what stood out was him thanking his fiancee Whitney Alford for holding him down. It was such a sweet gesture, and when he said it, he meant it. These two love birds have been together since high school.
How sweet!
ANDRA AND ELLIE SANG, CHILD!
THAT PENTATONIX AND STEVIE WONDER COLLAB THOUGH!
Pentatonix and Stevie Wonder took to the stage to present the award for Song of the Year, which went to Ed Sheeran for "Thinking Out Loud." But before Sheeran accepted his award, they performed an emotional tribute to Maurice White, founding member of the legendary band Earth Wind and Fire while doing their signature beatboxing, along with Stevie singing lead on "That's the Way of the World."
This is one of those songs that always brings back a good memory, so if you watch it, get ready to get all of the feels.
THE CAST OF HAMILTON HAD BARS AND THEY WON
The amazing Broadway cast of Hamilton came on stage, and for some reason I thought that I had heard Twitter collectively sigh of boredom.
That is until the cast opened their mouths. They not only blew everyone away, they also brought those bars.
The mega famous bio-musical about the life of Alexander Hamilton and the country's founding fathers has been met with tons of accolades. But when their performance hit Twitter, everyone was trying to beg, borrow, and steal their way to the next Hamilton performance.
They also won for best acceptance speech when they received their award for Best Musical Theater Album, because the mastermind behind the critically acclaimed show, Lin-Manuel Miranda, rapped his whole acceptance speech, and it was lit. Watch how he did it below.
KENDRICK LAMAR'S VERY POLITICALLY CHARGED PERFORMANCE
But if no one in the audience felt him, there were plenty of people at home who did. Twitter went wild with Kendrick during his performance, and they loved every bit of his message. Even celebrities were awed by his raw set.
Kendrick walked out of the building with five awards, and one hell of an impression on the audience. Watch his full performance below.
QUEEN BEYONCE FINALLY EMERGED TO PRESENT RECORD OF THE YEAR
By this time, everyone was wondering if Beyonce was really going to come on stage, because she was visibly missing from her seat. But she finally emerged on stage looking like a dream in a sheer white gown.
What was even better about her appearance was the words that she had to say before presenting the award, where she made a strong statement of the powerful impact of music. Everyone was moved.
She went on to present Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson for their immensely contagious his "Uptown Funk," which was a hard category to predict against nominees Ed Sheeran for "Thinking Out Loud," The Weeknd's "Can't Feel my Face," Taylor Swift's "Blank Space," and D'angelo's "Really Love."
TAYLOR SWIFT'S KANYE SHADE
Well it looks like Taylor Swift let it be known how she was feeling about Kanye's diss on his latest album, where he rapped that he made that "b*tch famous." She didn't keep her feelings cute at all when she said,
“As the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice...I want to say to all the young woman out there: There will be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomphlishments, or your fame. But if you just focus on the work, and you don't let those people sidetrack you, someday when you get where you're going, you will look around and you will know that it you and the people that love you who put you there, and that will be the greatest feeling in the world. ”
And then she walked off stage with the biggest award of the night. #MicDrop.
What were your favorite moments from tonight's Grammy Awards ceremony? Sound off in the comments.
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Those myths that you keep telling yourself, and believe to be true may be what's holding you back, boo. Most of the time you're thinking these things on a subconscious level and may not even realize the damage that's being done. But once you gain clarity and call out your limiting beliefs for what they are, you'll finally be able to break free and reach new levels financially.
Let's dig into a few myths that have a direct impact on your money and are keeping you BROKE.
1. “Money is the root of all evil.”
Nah, this right here is a straight-up LIE! The truth is this: the LOVE OF MONEY is the root of all evil. When you think that money is the root of all evil, you're limiting yourself from keeping money, as well as receiving more of it. Without even knowing it, you might be scared of going after opportunities that will get you to the money.
Think about it. How can money be evil? Money is simply a resource that we control. Instead of believing and saying that money is the root of all evil, replace it with this supporting belief instead:
"Money is a resource and a means to do good and live well."
2. "I'm broke."
Broke is a mindset, boo. Your financial situation is shaped by how you think about money, which influences how you manage your money. Guess what? If you keep crying that you're broke, you're going to remain that way. All you are doing is reinforcing that limiting belief into the universe and your actions aren't gonna line up with what you need to do in order to get ahead.
It's imperative that you get a grip on this way of thinking and behaving, or else you'll never be able to break the cycle. I challenge you to think more in terms of abundance and believing that you can be wealthy. Are you up for the challenge?
3. "I can afford it."
You say that you can afford that pair of shoes and then turn around and realize that you don't even have enough money for gas the morning after. You can't just look at your checking account balance in the moment and think that everything is all good. Trust me, I've been there. This is where having a clear-cut, written budget comes in handy.
A budget is really just a spending/savings plan. It's a strategic system that lets you know how much money is coming in and going out every month. In reality, a budget can:
- Help you understand your financial situation and whether you can really afford something or not.
- Help you save for the things you want and do more of what you enjoy.
- Help you avoid getting caught short by bills you can't pay.
- Help you escape the paycheck-to-paycheck life.
4. "I deserve to treat myself."
GiphyHow many "treats" do you need, sis? If you really sit down and keep it 100 with yourself, do you really deserve those so-called treats? Are you taking care of your responsibilities like you should be? Instead of buying things that you don't need (with money you don't have) and labeling them as a "treat," you should be treating yourself by investing in your future and saving some coins.
If you spend all of the money that you earn instead of saving and investing it, you will never create the financial abundance that you do desire to have.
Here's a tip: Try putting both your short-term and long-term savings on auto-pilot so you don't even notice the money that you could be missing. When you don't have to look at it, you aren't tempted by any "excess" that you might have.
5. "I need to make more money and then I'll be better with my finances."
If you can't manage the little that you have now, what makes you think that you're gonna be able to manage more money? The more money you make, the more you're gonna spend if you don't get those habits in check early on. You're going to go right back to complaining about your finances and crying that you're still broke and in need of even more money. You'll never be satisfied. There will never be enough money. Remember, there are former millionaires who are struggling out here in these streets because they wanted to live a "fake fancy" lifestyle and ball out of control.
Start by being content with the income that you currently have and handling it with better care. Learn the ins and outs of sound financial management now, so that when you're finally blessed with more, you'll be able to manage it with ease.
I challenge you to start thinking better, which will ultimately lead to you doing better. It's time to prioritize your finances in a way that you haven't done before if you want to level up this year. It's time to activate your discipline. It's time to finally do something different.
Make the commitment to yourself and decide that absolutely nothing's gonna stand in your way of breaking that broke mentality.
What’s better than being in love? Building an empire while doing it. Watch Making Cents to see how real couples turn their money dreams into money moves.
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Originally published on January 5, 2018