Two artists who took 2022 by storm with their music are going home with awards following the 2023 Grammy Awards.
During the coveted event, Best New Artist nominee Muni Long won Best R&B Performance for her hit single “Hrs & Hrs.” She was crowned the winner over fellow nominees Beyoncé (“Virgo’s Groove”), Jazmine Sullivan (“Hurt Me So Good”), Lucky Daye (“Over”), and Mary J. Blige (“Here With Me”).
Long’s breakout hit was also nominated for Best R&B Song, but lost to Beyoncé’s “Cuff It.”
After learning of her three Grammy nominations, the singer told Billboard that it hadn’t really hit her that her hit song had received such an incredible honor.
“I think everything that’s happening right now is surreal,” she shared with R&B/hip-hop reporter Neena Rouhani last month. “I definitely have a delayed reaction.”
She added, “Watching the Grammys nominations on YouTube, I was like ‘yes!’ I was like, ‘I wonder when it’s gonna hit me?’ And then I just burst out crying for like five minutes.”
In addition to Long, Steve Lacy is also going home with a Grammy.
The singer was named the winner of the Best Progressive R&B Album for his Gemini Rights record, beating out Tank and the Bangas (Red Balloon), Terrace Martin (Drones), Moonchild (Starfruit), and Cory Henry (Operation Funk).
Lacy was also been nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance, all for his viral hit song “Bad Habit.”
While speaking with the Grammy.com in July 2022, Lacy revealed that he learned some valuable lessons while writing Gemini Rights.
“I make a lot of stuff, so I learned with this album two things: the superpower of editing and that you got to make trash,” Lacy said. “Doing that freed me. When I used to think that I would dream up something perfect, I realized that I just had to let it come [to me.] Just blurt words out and vomit them out, let it go, and edit, edit, edit. I would treat [Gemini Rights] like how a rapper would and that made it way more fun.”
All in all, the singer is very proud of this record and is now very confident in his music skills.
“I love the craft of music and developing sounds using the knowledge that I have of music, where meshing so many things together just creates unique experiences for myself and others is exciting to me,” he added.
