Multi-platinum selling
rapper Kanye West scored three Grammys last night (Feb. 8), including the coveted
Best Rap Album award at the 48th annual ceremony at the Staples Center in Los
Angeles.
Fueled by the success
of his sophomore album, Late Registration, the Chicago MC took home honors
in three categories, including Best Rap Album, Best Rap Solo Performance for
"Gold Digger" and Best Rap Song for "Diamonds From Sierra Leone."
The super-producer’s
three Grammy’s matched his total for last year.
West’s label, G.O.O.D.
Music, also enjoyed a successful night as his protégé John Legend
won three awards: Best New Artist, Best R&B album for his debut, Get
Lifted
, and Best Male R&B Vocal for the piano ballad "OrdinaryPeople."
In the Best Rap/Sung
Collaboration category, Jay-Z and Lincoln Park won for "Numb/Encore,"
while the Black Eyed Peas won Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Don’t
Phunk With My Heart."
Best Short Form
Music Video
(For an individual track or single promotional clip. Award to the Artist and
to the Video Director/Producer.)
The Dave Meyers
directed "Lose Control" by Missy Elliott Featuring Ciara & Fat Man
Scoop, won a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video
Performances rather
than awards monopolized the majority of the more than three-hour televised ceremony,
which opened with the cartoon band Gorillaz, featuring the real-life De La Soul,
as they performed their Grammy Award winning hit "Feel Good Inc."
West, joined by
Jaime Foxx, performed a medley of "Gold Digger" and "Touch the
Sky" that was dubbed the "Grammy halftime show."
The performance
featured West and Foxx dressed as bandleaders while leading their respective
bands "KW State" and "JFU" in a step-show like routine.
Jay-Z and Lincoln
Park performed "Numb/Encore" and were later joined onstage by Paul
McCartney for a rendition of The Beatles’ "Yesterday." McCartney’s
performance was his first ever Grammy stage performance.
Aretha Franklin,
Maroon 5, Damien Marley and others also won awards.
