Los Angeles (dpa) – US President Donald Trump wasn’t at the Grammys
Sunday night in Los Angeles, but performers addressed him
nonetheless.
Emcee James Corden kicked off the televised ceremony with a comedic
rap that included a dark acknowledgement of the political change on
everyone’s mind.
“Live it all up, because this is the best / and with President Trump
we don’t know what comes next,” he said, to groans and applause.
Minutes later, presenting the artist of the year award, Jennifer
Lopez called on artists to speak out, saying “at this particular
point in history, our voices are needed more than ever.”
Quoting US poet Toni Morrison, Lopez said “this is precisely the time
when artists go to work.”
Pop icon Katy Perry took the stage for a performance of “Chained to
the Rhythm” wearing a Hillary Clinton-inspired white pantsuit, and an
armband whose pink sequins spelled out “persist,” an homage to US
Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Warren’s protest against the confirmation of US Attorney General Jeff
Sessions was silenced by Senate Republicans last week.
Perry ended the song before a projected backdrop of the familiar
script of the US Constitution.
Recording Academy President Neil Portnow gave his traditional Grammys
address an unusually political theme, calling on the president and US
Congress to “help keep the music playing” and protect music and the
arts.
The speech appeared to be a response to reports that Trump intends to
eliminate the federally-funded National Endowment for the Arts.
The evening’s most direct political protest came from rappers A Tribe
Called Quest and Busta Rhymes, performing with Anderson .Paak.
In one of the last performances of the televised ceremony, dancers
representing immigrants to the US broke through a wall onstage during
Tribe’s song “We the People.”
Busta Rhymes dubbed Trump “President Agent Orange” – a reference to
some Trump critics’ assertion that the US president’s skin and hair
have an unnatural shade.
“I just want to thank President Agent Orange for perpetuating all the
evil you been perpetuating throughout the United States,” he shouted,
calling him out for his “Muslim ban” and ending the song with calls
of “resist! resist!”
But even in the generally left-leaning music industry, not all were
on board with the protest messages.
On the red carpet ahead of the ceremony, singer Joy Villa pulled off
a white cape to reveal the opposite sentiment: a blue dress
emblazoned with Trump’s name and his campaign slogan, “make American
great again.”
“Sometimes you just gotta be free to express yourself,” she wrote on
Twitter.
