Slim, What If You Win?

In the race for Album of the Year, the Grammys may not be ready for Eminem

A funny thing happened on the way to this year's Grammy Awards: Eminem made them controversial. When the nominations were announced for the 43rd annual Grammys, which will be handed out on February 21, Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP was a finalist for Album of the Year. Protests immediately flooded in from groups fighting homophobia, violence against women, and other favorite topics of the rapper who makes some people laugh and others furious.

No matter that Eminem won two Grammys last year; those were in the rap category, unnoticed by the mainstream. Now the Grammy Awards, a symbol of respectability in the music business, has seemingly endorsed Eminem's violent fantasies and homophobic reflexes by putting him in the company of parent pop like Paul Simon and Steely Dan and ambitious younger rockers like Radiohead and Beck.

Eminem goes to great lengths on The Marshall Mathers LP to describe himself as a self-destructive jerk, and, in songs like "Stan," to clearly distinguish between fantasy and reality. But the people who don't hear his album as a (sick) joke, and don't care that it was one of few albums from 2000 that challenged listeners to think, hate seeing Eminem get even more attention. Meanwhile, Steely Dan's Two Against Nature, also up for Album of the Year, has songs about a speed freak, sex with an underage runaway, and a guy who makes a pass at his young cousin. But nobody's complaining since it's suave adult pop, not hip-hop.

Eminem shouldn't start writing his prime-time acceptance speech just yet. The Grammys are chosen by music-business veterans, who tend to prefer pros like themselves rather than foul-mouthed upstarts like Eminem. They take respectability seriously, and many of them are still dubious about rock-and-roll, much less hip-hop. They like smoothly tuneful pop, love songs preferred; they recently added the category "Traditional Pop" (isn't that a contradiction?) to make sure Tony Bennett standards had a place.

Ballads, not rockers, are almost always chosen as Song of the Year for songwriting (though this year U2's uptempo "Beautiful Day" has a chance), and familiar names have the edge over newcomers. Some people are Grammy magnets, getting nominations and awards whenever they're eligible. Paul Simon, who's competing with Eminem for Album of the Year, has already won Grammys in the 1960s, the '70s, and the '80s, and was also nominated in the '90s.

The Grammy judges don't have an easy task. Up to 30,000 albums are released every year: not just pop, rock, and hip-hop, but operas, soundtrack scores, electronica, salsa, and bluegrass. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which gives the Grammy Awards, tries desperately to keep up with all the genres and subgenres. This year, with subdivisions like Latin Rock Album, Remixer, and Native American Album, they're up to 100 categories.

A group like Destiny's Child can rack up (well-deserved) nominations by showing up in multiple categories, first in the rhythm-and-blues division and then for Record of the Year. Dr. Dre, who produced Eminem and also made his own album, picked up nominations as a producer, a solo rapper, and a duet rapper with Eminem.

With so many categories, perspective can get skewed, and troublesome music can be kept out of sight. There are only three rap awards--solo single, duo or group single, and rap album--to cover a phenomenon that has dominated and transformed the past decade's music. Meanwhile, there are six gospel categories recognizing albums few nonbelievers have heard.

Music doesn't stand still; it's forever mutating, subdividing, and recombining. As fast as the Grammys can identify new categories, musicians wriggle out of them. Eminem is one such wriggler: He's genuinely popular, genuinely skillful, and genuinely troubling. By nominating him, the Grammys have shown that they're not as fuddy-duddy as they used to be. But it's likely to be a long time before the Grammys value rebelliousness as much as they value smooth, comforting pop.

Hits and Mix

In the top categories, old and new acts create a mixed-up playlist for unpredictable awards.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Midnite Vultures BECK
The Marshall Mathers LP EMINEM
Kid A RADIOHEAD
You're the One PAUL SIMON
Two Against Nature STEELY DAN

SINGLE RECORD

"Say My Name" DESTINY'S CHILD
"I Try" MACY GRAY
"Music" MADONNA
"Bye Bye Bye" 'N SYNC
"Beautiful Day" U2

RAP ALBUM

... And Then There Was X
DMX
Dr. Dre--2001 DR. DRE
The Marshall Mathers LP
EMINEM
Vol. 3 ... Life and Times
of S. Carter JAY-Z
Country Grammar NELLY

ROCK ALBUM

Crush BON JOVI
There is Nothing Left to
Lose FOO FIGHTERS
Mad Season
MATCHBOX TWENTY
Return of Saturn NO DOUBT
The Battle of Los Angeles
AGAINST THE MACHINE