The most important thing to remember about the Grammys is that it’s a popularity contest and nothing more. The Grammys present themselves as the pinnacle of artistic achievement in the recording industry, but it is just another pathetic effort to stay relevant and get people to watch another crappy TV awards show.

It’s all about who sells the most “units,” after all, not quality or talent. That doesn’t even mean people actually bought the music. When they say a record is a smash hit because it was “shipped platinum” that simply means that the record company shipped a million copies to retailers to sell. None of them actually had to be purchased by consumers…they just had a million copies in the stores.

This is the Grammys, after all. It’s been a long time since the Grammy Awards actually recognized talent. I am truly sorry that so many fans feel slighted and marginalized by Beyoncé’s loss, but the Grammys have become simply another joke of an award show. It rewards the best-selling music of the year. That’s it.

Beyoncé may be a talented performer, but a true artist creates – they don’t simply regurgitate somebody else’s work. And let’s face it: MILLIONS of people can dance like that. Clearly one doesn’t need to be phenomenally talented to do those moves. As far as I can tell, every High School girl in America can do them…

Like the Oscars, the Grammys and all the other awards shows are just part of America’s celebration of profound mediocrity. Maybe in the end it just depends upon your definition of “music.” Should music be “culturally diverse?” Of course it should; it always has been: from the “race music” of the 50s – which defined my taste in music both as a teenager and as an adult (MOTOWN) – and classic Rock & Roll, back when it is created by musicians who were…well…talented musicians.

But when an event which is supposed to celebrate artistic accomplishments in “music” becomes far more about style and pomp over substance, talent or social commentary – despite some lame acceptance speeches – then it is time for a simple reality check.

Contemporary music is essentially DANCE music. Gen Y has been brainwashed into believing that a bunch of scantily clad people gyrating in unison is somehow considered “music.” If so, where are the Musicians? Where is the guitar player? Where is the bass? The drums? If that is supposed to be music, why are there no actual musicians playing fucking instruments anywhere to be seen?

Dancing is not music. Dancing is ‘dancing.’ You can certainly dance to good music, but the whole point of pop music today is a good beat and nothing else. Dancing has no relevance; it’s not political, it’s not socially conscious; it’s nothing. That is why the music industry doesn’t really exist anymore. They don’t sell music. They sell PRODUCT.

Do I like rap music? No, because the operative term here is “music.” As a semi-professional musician, I can tell you there is no actual music involved in rap. It is literally just a programmed drumbeat augmented by a bunch of programmed sound effects with some guy yelling in auto-tune over the top. But I do recognize it as a vital part of the music industry. Culturally, rap and hip-hop are simply the progression of an ongoing attempt by the white, white, white music industry to recognize its debt to black culture and the many influential artists who help shape what passes for popular culture.

But that doesn’t mean it’s any good.

The internet is abuzz with disgruntled fans who felt that Beyoncé should have won the Grammy for her incredibly over-rated, over-produced and mind-control trigger-filled “video album” Lemonade. I took a moment to check out this supposedly brilliant Lemonade effort. I was expecting some sort of life-affirming, profoundly moving experience. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, right? If you think Beyoncé is some kind of modern day musical genius, you’re absolutely mental. It’s a music video. Wow. I’ve never seen a music video before. How fucking original!

And by what criteria is Beyoncé even considered an artist? She doesn’t write her own songs. She doesn’t even do her own choreography. Fuck, she probably didn’t even write the acceptance speech she carefully read off that index card. She is the latest vacuous product of some very rich and powerful moguls in the industry. Nothing more.

The Grammys: the night for all the mediocre pop stars to pay back the generosity of the evil studio heads with their greatest role: impersonating activists. Sadly, these limo-liberals who decry tRUMP’s “wall” live in exclusive, highly-secured walled communities themselves – surrounded by low-paid servants, illegal immigrant housekeepers, and an endless supply of sycophants.

The music-industry mega millionaires should cut out the nonsense: time to lose the pretense of activism. The record companies are all owned exclusively by old white men who couldn’t care less about music.

I agree with Carlos Santana. He’s taken a lot of flak in the media after he claimed that Adele deserved to win the Album of the Year award over Beyoncé at the Grammys last weekend. Santana said it was because “She [Adele] can sing. Beyoncé is very beautiful to look at, and it’s more like modeling kind of music. [But] she’s not a singer…”

Adele can sing her ass off, let’s face it. Still not my cup of tea, but she can sing a Capella as well as any opera diva. Both of Adele’s Grammy performances featured just Adele onstage. Beyoncé also performed twice, but on both occasions she was surrounded by a bevy of costumed dancers and she used extensive stage props.

“Adele doesn’t bring all the dancers and props; she can just stand there,” Santana said bluntly. “And she just stood there and sang the song and that’s it, and this is why she wins.”

Carlos Santana is right. By any measure, Adele is a much better singer than Beyoncé. But the same must also be said for Lady CACA, Katy Perry, Keisha, Britney Spears, and so many more untalented, hyper-sexualized, mind controlled robots.

Beyoncé, Madonna, Mariah Carey and JLo are all operating under heavy MONARCH sex-kitten programming. They act more like strippers than singers, and when they come off the stage they are essentially used as sex slaves by the captains of industry; passed around like a football at the after-hours parties.

At least Adele is a true singer, and she does not exhibit any overt signs of programming; but who knows? She doesn’t need all the flashy props, the masks, the multitudes of dancers or gold-plated costumes to get a song across.

All Beyoncé does is distract the audience with spastic choreography, slutty outfits and lots of special effects, while growling like a demon  and singing trills like a possessed woman (programming). Beyoncé extensively uses auto-tune and she can’t tour without having half of her show prerecorded.

But, hey. I know that Gen Y has grown up surrounded by this shameless mediocrity since day one, so the vast majority of you are convinced it simply must be good. It’s ubiquitous. You can’t escape from it. It’s comforting. You grew up with it. Who are we older wiser people to tell you what to like and what not to like, right?

Because it’s all mind-control based music. The quick-cut video images, the pulsing beats and the bells and whistles help to reinforce your lifelong programming.

Of course you can’t convince someone they have horrible musical taste any more than you can convince people they have terrible taste in clothes or men; but studies have repeatedly shown that dumb people think they are highly intelligent beings. Bigly so. Just ask the so-called President.

Anyone who feels compelled to constantly tell everyone how smart they are is clearly an imbecile. Our prisons are full of these people. Dumb people also think they have good taste. The only defense they have for why they love this crap is simply they like it, so it must be good. And that’s it. Most listeners haven’t the slightest idea of what makes good music or how it is made or why they even like it. And they clearly don’t care. Most aren’t even actually listening to it, either, apparently. It’s just background noise for the most part.

But it’s not their fault. This shit has been crammed down their throats literally from birth. How can you know any better if you don’t know any better?