In an Unremarkable Year, Decent Choices Are Found

In a year that produced very little memorable R&B;, the Grammy voting bloc did a decent job of plucking a batch of deserving nominees. In the female solo vocal performance category, Macy Gray and Mary J. Blige rightfully get the nod, while Lauryn Hill, Whitney Houston and Brandy round out a category that isn’t exactly overflowing with earth-shattering performances this year.

The male vocal category looks a lot more like the usual Grammy fare, what with inexplicable nominees Peabo Bryson, Tyrese and Barry White making the cut. Where’s Prince? His “The Greatest Romance Ever Sold” is surely worthy of at least a nomination.

The duo category is one of those nebulous catch-all awards, where formalized groups compete with one-off duets. All of the nominees are decent, but TLC’s “No Scrubs” is out of the ballpark. In the song category, the voters got three out of five right--”No Scrub,” “Bills, Bills, Bills” and “All That I Can Say” are all terrific, but what’s with the two Whitney Houston nominations? Perhaps TLC’s “I’m Good at Being Bad” should have been included.

In the album category, TLC, Brian McKnight and Mary J. Blige are spot-on, but Macy Gray’s “On How Life Is” shoulda been a contender. Finally, the Grammys just wouldn’t be the Grammys without a totally superfluous category. The “Best Traditional R&B; Vocal Performance” (whatever that means) should have been renamed “Best Irrelevant Performance by a Middle-Aged Performer.” What were they thinking?