1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,320 Hi everyone, welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:07,600 culture podcast bringing you the biggest stories from social 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:10,800 media, the creator economy, and the digital space. 4 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:14,720 Every Monday through Thursday. I'm your host, Lauren Meissner, 5 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:19,280 the founder of the youth digital media brand Centennial World. 6 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:21,280 Welcome back to Mini Scroll, everyone. 7 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:25,360 You guys, this is the third time, the third time that I have 8 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,520 recorded this friggin episode. Oh my God. 9 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:30,200 OK. The first time I don't even 10 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:34,240 remember what happened anyways. And then I got into the second 11 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,280 time, finished the entire episode, like went to a meeting, 12 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:41,240 recorded the deep dive like I've done so much. 13 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:45,160 And then I went back to the episode and I realized that my 14 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:49,240 Rd. settings for like our microphone were wrong because we 15 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:53,200 took all of our equipment to the binge offices yesterday here in 16 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,680 Sydney to do an interview with some of the Real Housewives, 17 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,800 which is very exciting. But their sound person in their 18 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:01,320 studio space, which was really cool. 19 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,720 It was really cool to get set up there, but he changed the 20 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,400 settings on the road. And anyways, the whole episode, 21 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,440 like there was sound, but it was like in and out. 22 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:11,760 So it's like if I wasn't like speaking directly into 23 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:13,600 microphone, it would like fade out. 24 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,360 If I like went like this and it didn't sound natural at all and 25 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:18,520 I was like oh that's going to piss people off so much. 26 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,120 So anyways, here I am rerecording again. 27 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,960 OK, so we are doing a big Grammys recap today. 28 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,680 I was going to add other stories to this episode, but as I was 29 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:31,200 writing the recap, I was like, you know what? 30 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,280 Let's just do like a mini Grammys recap. 31 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,360 And then any other stories that I had, I think I only had one 32 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,240 will go Thursday. Yesterday was the 2025 Grammys. 33 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,040 Obviously, I have a lot to cover. 34 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,920 Overall, I'd say that the award show felt really culturally 35 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,400 relevant in a way that it hasn't in years. 36 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,840 I feel like they really tried to take into account like, what's 37 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,200 happening online, like discussions in fan communities, 38 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,760 what happens behind the scenes with artists, what's happening 39 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,120 around the world politically and socially. 40 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,520 And this did seem to be like the general consensus. 41 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,120 So Justin Crudo wrote for Vulture quote, who are these 42 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,039 people and what have they done with the Recording Academy? 43 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,600 It definitely wasn't a perfect show, but we'll give credit 44 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,480 where it's due. And the Academy deserves a lot 45 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:19,840 After tonight. I'm going to go over some of the 46 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,960 highlights before I get into more serious elements of the 47 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:26,920 show. So there were performances from 48 00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:31,240 all of the main pop girlies that dominated 2024, like Chapel 49 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,960 Roan, Charli XCX, Billy Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter. 50 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:37,640 They all killed it as we knew they would. 51 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:43,040 And of course, the Taylor Swift is like dancing and partying to 52 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:47,320 every single performance. And many of them, she's the only 53 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:49,440 one. Like the audience is filled with 54 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,160 people who are just seated and watching the show. 55 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,040 And she's like standing up like champagne in her hand, like 56 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:59,600 going crazy, dancing, singing. And I love it. 57 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:01,760 Like, I love that she is showing that support. 58 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,760 I know a lot of people think it's just her trying to like be 59 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,560 the center of attention and get the cameras to film her and 60 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:09,800 stuff. And like, sure, it could be 61 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:11,960 that, I don't know. But I think it doesn't really 62 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,160 matter at the end of the day. The audience for so many of the 63 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:17,120 performances literally does nothing. 64 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,880 So I love to see that energy, that fangirl energy from Taylor. 65 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,280 Some of the most notable wins. OK, let's get into this. 66 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,680 Kendrick Lamar won all 5 Grammys. 67 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,480 He was nominated for for Not Like Us. 68 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:33,840 He won record of the year, song of the year, best rap 69 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,080 performance, best rap song and best music video. 70 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,280 You guys, this is crazy because we know that this song is a diss 71 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,280 track on Drake. That's why I'm saying it feels 72 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,200 like the Academy really just like let loose and like decided, 73 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,920 you know what we're going to like lean in to like what is 74 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:55,680 going on behind the scenes in fan communities online. 75 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,840 Like they considered, it feels like they considered a lot of 76 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,160 that in these awards. One of the key lyrics in this 77 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,040 song is trying to strike a chord, and it's probably A 78 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:12,200 minor, like A minor, if you know the Drake lore, you know, So 79 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,320 everyone's like, first of all, someone check on Drake, and 80 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,480 second of all, someone checked Drake into a psychiatric 81 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,720 hospital after this because this is so embarrassing. 82 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,880 I don't even think Drake nominated himself or whatever. 83 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,360 You have to like, submit yourself to be nominated for the 84 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,360 Grammys. And I read somewhere that he did 85 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,800 not do that. OK Chapel, my queen, she won 86 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,160 best new artist. And in her acceptance speech, 87 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:40,840 she spoke about fair pay for emerging artists. 88 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,000 Now, I'm not well versed in, like, the insurance and outs of 89 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,320 the music industry, but we all know that record labels are 90 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:51,360 notoriously pretty predatory. And I guess it's really hard for 91 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:56,040 up and coming artists to like, survive, you know, and they seem 92 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,800 quite trapped in a lot of these contracts and things like that. 93 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:01,800 Like, we know just from like, peripherally we have heard 94 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:03,880 things like this. So Chapel really spoke out about 95 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:06,440 that for everything she went through last year. 96 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:11,320 I really love that Chapel hasn't let like, the Internet scrutiny, 97 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:16,120 the media scrutiny, all of the like, fodder around her and her 98 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,040 speaking up. Like, I'm glad she hasn't let 99 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:21,920 any of that stop her from voicing things like this. 100 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,440 I love that she's an artist that stands for something bigger. 101 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,280 I hope that this continues. And I think even if the way 102 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:32,680 she's delivering the message doesn't feel super palatable to 103 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:37,040 you, the fact that she does have this bigger message to her 104 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,680 celebrity, I feel like it's so important and it's inspiring. 105 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,520 I just love Chapel. OK Beyoncé. 106 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:49,920 She became the first black woman to win a Grammy for country 107 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:55,200 music for Cowboy Carter since The Pointer Sisters won in 1975, 108 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:57,920 and Taylor Swift presented the award to her. 109 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,560 Some people said that they seemed awkward in this exchange. 110 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:04,360 I don't know. I didn't really notice that. 111 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,560 What I could not stop, like being obsessed with was 112 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:09,840 Beyoncé's reaction to winning this. 113 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:14,480 She seemed so genuinely shocked and excited. 114 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:17,880 And I feel like it was a moment that we don't get to see a lot 115 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:20,400 from Beyoncé because she's so polished, right? 116 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,280 She's so polished in public. So to see her have this, really, 117 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:25,920 I don't know, it was like really sincere. 118 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,560 It was almost like childlike in such like a cute, sincere, 119 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,040 excitable way to see that reaction. 120 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,640 I just loved that. And of course, she also won 121 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,360 album of the year, which is the first time she has ever won 122 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,160 that. So that kind of leads into the 123 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,600 more negative stuff. I wanted to start out by calling 124 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,880 out the blatant racism in some of the reactions to Beyoncé. 125 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:51,160 He's win, especially her win in the country category. 126 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:53,720 Now this is always a problem for Beyoncé. 127 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:57,360 Like she is always compared. Her success is always compared. 128 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:01,640 She's always called overrated and things in that similar vein. 129 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,040 And now with Cowboy Carter winning in the country category, 130 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:09,200 like the judgement, it's real. Look, there's always going to be 131 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,400 heated opinions about any. I mean, I was going to say album 132 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,840 of the year, but like any category, right, Like music is 133 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:18,560 subjective. It can be based on opinion. 134 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,320 However, I think while that type of like judgment or opinion 135 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:27,520 isn't exclusive to Beyoncé, I think the undertones of what 136 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:31,080 people were saying and like the blatant, like ignorance, like 137 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:35,000 the, it's felt like intentional ignorance that feels exclusive 138 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,160 to Beyoncé and that feels quite targeted. 139 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:41,080 I think a lot of people are missing context and I think 140 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,640 that's on purpose, which is why it does feel like racism to me. 141 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,000 So there's a lot of people saying that Beyoncé shouldn't 142 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,280 have won in the country category because it's her first country 143 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:52,520 album. A lot of the songs on the album 144 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,640 don't necessarily fit quote UN quote into that like country 145 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:57,800 genre. She's not immersed in that 146 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,040 genre. She hasn't been like, slogging 147 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:04,720 it out in that genre like whatever country music is 148 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:08,680 directly derived from black Southern Americans. 149 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,960 This is a quote from the Harvard Crimson quote. 150 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,160 Early country music was often rebranded or stolen from the 151 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,880 hymns and field songs of Southern enslaved people, as 152 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,400 well as from professional black musicians. 153 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:26,120 And while people might not have always known that part of what 154 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:30,560 Cowboy Carter did culturally for us was it opened up that 155 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:35,480 conversation about country music and its history, its origins 156 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:40,240 within black culture. And so that to me, is also why I 157 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,720 think Cowboy Carter was a perfect winner for Album of the 158 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,080 Year, right? Like, I think Album of the Year 159 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:48,320 should hold cultural significance. 160 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,000 And it obviously held significance for Beyoncé. 161 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:55,160 We know that it was kind of like her first entrance back into the 162 00:08:55,160 --> 00:09:00,080 country sphere since 2016. In 2016, she performed with the 163 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:04,120 Dixie Chicks at the Cmas, and she received tons of racist 164 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:08,240 backlash for that performance. And she said Cowboy Carter was 165 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:12,640 kind of like her saying kind of like fuck you or to everyone who 166 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,560 said she didn't belong. So this album holds significance 167 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:19,520 to Beyoncé, which I think is important in album of the year 168 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:21,960 because if you think about. So this is just me like going on 169 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:24,840 a tantrum. But if you think about Beyoncé 170 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:29,360 as an artist, right? Like, I think anything that is 171 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,920 significant to Beyoncé, he's career, which Cowboy Carter very 172 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,480 much is, he's a contender or should be a contender. 173 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,800 Then if it's a good album, which obviously it is for something 174 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,600 like album of the year, because Beyoncé herself is one of the 175 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:47,720 most culturally impactful, influential artists of our time. 176 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:51,080 So anything that is significant to Beyoncé's career is 177 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:55,400 significant to music in 2025. Like full stop. 178 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,680 So I think that is just like 1 little point there. 179 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:02,440 But then I think the other point is that like I said before, this 180 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:06,320 album opened up bigger conversations around the world 181 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:11,160 and open people's eyes to different histories and origins 182 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:13,760 of music and just like things that like honestly, the Grammys 183 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,080 should be awarding. So that is why I think Cowboy 184 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,120 Carter, whether you liked the album or not, like whether it's 185 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,720 your taste in music or not, I think it stood for something 186 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:27,440 bigger and that is why it should have won, which it did. 187 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,280 Album of the year and also best country album. 188 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,440 OK, OK. Next, The Associated Press was 189 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,760 doing red carpet interviews at the Grammys, and interviewers 190 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:41,360 are now facing backlash for interrupting their own interview 191 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,240 with Babyface to call over Chapel Roan. 192 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:49,000 So there's two interviewers. One of them, she sees Chapel. 193 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,440 She kind of like, makes eyes with her publicist or whoever 194 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:53,760 is, like, on the carpet with Chapel, like, escorting her. 195 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,360 And obviously Chapel's going to wait for this interview. 196 00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:59,560 And then it looks like they're about to walk away, I guess. 197 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:02,240 And so the interviewer is like, oh, wait, Chapel in the middle 198 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:05,720 of Babyface, like, quite literally giving his answer. 199 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,040 Like, they had asked him a question and he is in the middle 200 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:09,840 of answering. And she's like, yells, oh, 201 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:12,000 Chapel, Chapel. Which is just like, 202 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,360 unprofessional, right? So the interviewer has issued an 203 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:17,480 apology. She issued it on air first. 204 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:20,720 I wanted to say that I'm really sorry about interrupting 205 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:24,040 Babyface. Earlier, Chapel Roan had come up 206 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,360 and there was a lot of commotion, as there is on these 207 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:28,760 carpets. But I'm a big Babyface fan and 208 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,080 as are we all. And so I just wanted to say that 209 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:34,720 that I really apologize. But people are like, this 210 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:38,800 interviewer is never being asked to do a red carpet for The 211 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,960 Associated Press again. OK, The other kind of shitty 212 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:45,920 thing to come out of the Grammys is Chris Brown was unfortunately 213 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,760 awarded a Grammy. This is from the same Vulture 214 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:51,720 piece by Justin Trudeau, he said, just months after a 215 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,120 documentary explored new allegations of sexual assault 216 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:59,240 and abuse against the singer. He won his first award in over a 217 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:04,040 decade for best R&B album, and Chris Brown has never been fully 218 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:07,360 shunned from the industry. But this is just so 219 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:11,680 disappointing. This shows that, yeah, he is 220 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:15,640 well on his way to like a proper comeback if he is being awarded 221 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,960 a Grammy like this. And finally, I wanted to discuss 222 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,640 briefly the Kanye West Bianca Sensori red carpet. 223 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:26,600 Look, I'm not going to post the photos on the video, but I did 224 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,680 want to say my opinion. I don't think we should be 225 00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:31,760 analyzing this. Look, I don't think we should be 226 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:34,880 making jokes, making this into memes. 227 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:39,760 I don't even know if we should be creating think pieces with 228 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:41,360 this. I know there are something 229 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:45,920 pieces that are trying to take more of like an ethical stance. 230 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,600 I don't, I don't know how I feel about that really. 231 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,200 Maybe if it kind of opens people's eyes to what could be 232 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:55,600 happening. But I think in general it is 233 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:58,800 very clear that something is very wrong in this relationship. 234 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:01,560 I know a lot of people are concerned for Bianca and I think 235 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:04,720 for good reason and all the fodder around it. 236 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,560 Like obviously this was for shock value but like was this 237 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:10,760 Bianca's decision? Like what is going on behind the 238 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:12,320 scenes? Is she OK? 239 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,760 That should be like the only conversation in my opinion 240 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:19,440 around this situation. Also I know people were like oh 241 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:21,200 they weren't even invited and they crashed. 242 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:25,440 Apparently that's also not true. So I'm going to read a blue sky 243 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:29,000 post from my friend Crystal who runs Z feed and this is kind of 244 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:30,520 like sums up how I feel about it. 245 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:34,480 She wrote, I have no idea what's going on in Bianca's sensory and 246 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:38,080 Ye's relationship, but I reckon any women's publication that a 247 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:41,480 published on the gendered violence epidemic should be very 248 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:45,280 careful about whether slash how they post about Bianca's Grammys 249 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,640 red carpet look. And I completely agree. 250 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:53,280 We have seen a lot of publications that publish things 251 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,840 that are very pro feminist, pro women's reproductive rights, you 252 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:01,720 know, all of that great stuff that are covering this in kind 253 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,960 of I think an inappropriate way and I think we need to think 254 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,560 about that. Anyways, guys, hopefully third 255 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:11,360 time's a charm with this. I love you guys. 256 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:13,240 Thank you so much for listening to Mini Scroll. 257 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:14,680 Please rate review and subscribe. 258 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:16,920 We're trying to get to 1000 Spotify reviews. 259 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,840 Please star rate US. I love you guys and Annabelle 260 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,960 will talk to you tomorrow and I will talk to you on Thursday. 261 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:24,800 Bye.