Welcome To The Latest
TGJ Roundtable!

Over the years, That Grape Juice has established a distinguished voice that – whether loved or loathed – sparks discussion, debate, and on occasion drama!

Though comprised of seasoned writers who share a similar outlook on Urban Pop culture, the idiosyncrasies of the TGJ team members often lend to quite heated debates “behind the scenes” about the hottest topics.

Now, we give you a front-row seat to the show. In a format similar to ‘The View,’ TGJ editors – Sam, Rashad, and Joe – get real in a very candid way.

Today’s roundtable topic asks each anchor their thoughts on the…

GRAMMY Awards 2025

Sam

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No preamble is needed. This year’s GRAMMY Awards were incredible.

I’ve long embraced the mantra that memorable award shows are defined by memorable moments and the GRAMMYs served up many.

Beyonce was unquestionably the belle of the ball – finally nabbing her long-overdue Album of the Year win for ‘Cowboy Carter.’

She defines deserving. For her Country LP and for many of her projects that were unfairly snubbed over the years. This functions as justice and I’m here for it.

Elsewhere, I was mesmerized by Doechii’s electrifying performance. It watched like a definitive breakout moment It was big, it was bold, and it crowned her as THE one to watch – Best New Artist win or not.

The highs didn’t stop there.

On the performance front, Cynthia Erivo nailed her contribution to the Quincy Jones tribute, RAYE roused with her stunning vocals, and Sabrina Carpenter continues to justify her buzz in the Pop sphere. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars marveled with their tribute to the LA wildfire relief effort.

Beyond this, Kendrick Lamar receiving his flowers was a joy to see. A lot of folks don’t clock that, like Bey, he has been another act that has been chronically overlooked in the major categories. So, taking home Song of the Year and Record of the Year righted years of wrongs.

There were meh moments too.

The Weeknd’s return segment was produced exquisitely and I appreciated the reflective “we are open to critique” tone of the introduction. Yet, Abel simply didn’t deliver a performance worthy of hype.

I generally enjoy Shakira too and there’s no denying her charisma and choreography, pedantic as it may sound, her prerecords are becoming increasingly distracting (see: too pitched-up/obvious). It takes away from the performance. Just my two cents.

That aside, a trend I’ve noted and love about recent GRAMMY ceremonies is that the wins are well-distributed. Rather than clean sweeps, award love is spread out across a range of deserving winners. Rendering the GRAMMYs an altogether fairer show than in previous decades.

Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable ceremony and a GRAMMY edition to remember.

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Rashad

Easily one of its best offerings in recent memory, the 2025 GRAMMYs gave me everything I look for in an award show – a little bit of drama, unforgettable stage performances, and BIG categorical upsets.

On the latter front, I was pleased to see Kendrick be the show’s wild card with his historic Record and Song of the Year wins. Let’s not kid ourselves; ‘Not Like Us’ was undoubtedly the CULTURAL song of 2024 in terms of impact but hits like ‘Espresso’ and ‘Good Luck, Babe’ certainly packed bigger commercial punches.  I’m going to assume the Super Bowl was the reason he didn’t perform, but a tribute to the LA-inspired ‘Not Like Us’ performance would’ve held a layered symbolic meaning given the overall theme of the show and certainly would’ve had the crowd on their feet.

From Beyonce and Taylor Swift getting their lives to the song in the audience to the crowd’s unified “A Minoooooorr” wail, the Kendrick reception was simultaneously heartwarming and shocking – and we’re sure Drake was somewhere punching the air when he saw it.

Other standouts were The Weeknd’s unexpected return (even though I feel it should’ve been more eventized given the massive drama it brought to a close), Sabrina’s stellar GRAMMY debut, Doechii’s COMMANDING showing was something to marvel at, and Cynthia Erivo’s MASTER CLASS of a vocal performance. The latter was my overall favorite of the night.

Hats off to Beyonce finally getting that ever-elusive Album of the Year honor; much deserved.

Overall, I give the show two thumbs up. While surprisingly avoiding being politically controversial, it still managed to hammer home some points that buck the political climate – especially with the diversity of its winners emphasizing what Alicia Keys said in her touching acceptance speech for the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award: “DEI Is Not a Threat, It’s a Gift”

P.S. – Whoever thought of that medley Best New Artist performance idea needs a raise. It was Chef’s Kiss, and I hope it’s a staple in GRAMMYs going forward.

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Joe

I would like to give a big shout-out to the new crop of Pop stars and their creative directors. From subtle nods to the past to avant-garde stage sets, the “newbie” showed that the future of the industry can be bright and potentially exciting with them leading the charge.

Doechii’s ever-mindblowing concepts and ideas, Charli XCX and her effortless cool, Sabrina Carpenter’s witty  “showgirlship,” Chappell Roan’s stage commanding stage presence, Benson Boone’s… front flip(?), they all were major stars in my eyes who kept me entertained all festivities long.

It was only fair then that those who were in their shoes decades (I know!) ago showed up and showed out in return. Indeed Lady GaGa and Bruno Mars did their big one, Shakira reminded us about what they say about them hips, and Chris Martin gave a heartfelt tribute to the industry’s dearly departed.

Still, the main event of the night was its awards distribution, and I can gladly say, I agreed with most of the winners list. We would need a whole post to explain how layered Beyonce’s AOTY win actually is, so I’ll just cap off by saying congratulations… to the Recording Academy for finally getting it right.

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Do you agree with our picks? Who was spot on? Let us know your thoughts on the latest TGJ Roundtable and your thoughts on the GRAMMYs 2025.

Your thoughts?

[Photo Credit: Getty / Recording Academy / Giphy]

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