Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” wins Album of the Year on just concluded 2021 Grammy Awards.
The “Love Story” singer just got the biggest musical nod for her efforts during the pandemic lockdown of 2020 when her rootsy, minimalist album “Folklore” walked away with one of the major awards at the Grammys Sunday night, March 14, 2021.
Swift ran against a number of big named artists and albums on said category. Among them Post Malone for “Hollywood’s Bleeding,” Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia,” and Coldplay’s “Everyday Life.” “Chilombo” by Jhene Aiko, “Black Pumas” by Black Pumas, Jacob Collier’s “Djesse Vol. 3,” and Haim’s “Women In Music Pt. III” completed the nominees circle for said category.
Swift released “Folklore” some seven months ago right after the height of the U.S. lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The 16-track album was written by Swift and was produced with long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner of The National. The trio worked on the album during the first few months of the 2020 lockdowns. Critics have since hailed “Foklore” as one of her best albums.
“Folklore” includes the single “cardigan,” and a few other popular tracks such as “the 1,” the moody piano ballad “exile” featuring Bon Iver, ethereal “august.”
Swift’s “cardigan” was nominated for song of the year but was edged out by deserving R&B and Hiphop artist “H.E.R.” (who is half-Filipino and half amazing!) for the latter’s more socially relevant song entitled “I Can’t Breathe” which was written to mark the Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S.
Similarly, Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” was reflective of the times wherein performing live music for audiences en masse got sidelined, addressed as a major theme during the awards program, but creating music at home DIY-style using the current technology available proliferated. This during a stripped-down Grammy Awards ceremony eager to move past the effects the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
All in a day’s work for Taylor Swift.