Arts & Entertainment
Grammy noms 2018: Brandi Carlile, Janelle Monáe and more LGBT artists
More women were nominated than ever before this year
Janelle Monáe’s album ‘Dirty Computer.’ (Photo courtesy Atlantic)
The Recording Academy announced the nominees for the 61st Grammy Awards on Friday with women and LGBT artists dominating the list.
Out Americana singer Brandi Carlile received six nominations including for Album (“By The Way, I Forgive You”) and Record of the Year (“The Joke”). This makes her the most nominated woman at the Grammys this year. Carlile is up against pansexual artist Janelle Monáe’s “Dirty Computer” which was also nominated for Album of the Year.
Monáe’s music video for“Pynk” was also nominated for Best Music Video.
Queer artist St. Vincent was nominated for Best Alternative Album (“Masseduction”) and Best Rock Song.
Transgender representation was included among the nominees. Songwriter Teddy Geiger was nominated for co-writing “In My Blood” by Shawn Mendes. Transgender musician Sophie’s album “Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides” was nominated for Best Dance/Electronic Album.
Other notable mentions include the “Call Me By Your Name” soundtrack which was nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. Sufjan Stevens’ song “Mystery of Love” from the soundtrack was nominated for Best Song Written For Visual Media.
The nominations kept on rolling in for “A Star is Born,” which received three nominations for the song “Shallow,” performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, including for Record of the Year.
Kendrick Lamar earned the most recognition with eight nominations for his work on the “Black Panther” soundtrack.
Overall, this year’ s Grammy’s saw more women getting nominated as the categories expanded its lists from five to eight nominees.
The Grammys air on Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. on CBS. For a complete list of nominees, visit here.
Record of the Year
“I Like It” — Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin
“The Joke” — Brandi Carlile
“This Is America” — Childish Gambino
“God’s Plan” — Drake
“Shallow” — Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
“All the Stars” — Kendrick Lamar & SZA
“Rockstar” — Post Malone featuring 21 Savage
“The Middle” — Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey
Album of the Year
“Invasion Of Privacy” — Cardi B
“By The Way, I Forgive You” — Brandi Carlile
“Scorpion” — Drake
“H.E.R.” — H.E.R.
“Beerbongs & Bentleys” — Post Malone
“Dirty Computer” — Janelle Monáe
“Golden Hour” — Kacey Musgraves
“Black Panther: The Album”— Various artists
Song of the Year
“All The Stars” — Kendrick Duckworth, Solána Rowe, Al Shuckburgh, Mark Spears & Anthony Tiffith (Kendrick Lamar & SZA)
“Boo’d Up” — Larrance Dopson, Joelle James, Ella Mai & Dijon McFarlane (Ella Mai)
“God’s Plan” — Aubrey Graham, Daveon Jackson, Brock Korsan, Ron LaTour, Matthew Samuels & Noah Shebib, songwriters (Drake)
“In My Blood” — Teddy Geiger, Scott Harris, Shawn Mendes & Geoffrey Warburton (Shawn Mendes)
“The Joke” — Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth (Brandi Carlile)
“The Middle” — Sarah Aarons, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Marcus Lomax, Kyle Trewartha, Michael Trewartha & Anton Zaslavski (Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey)
“Shallow” — Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper)
“This Is America” — Donald Glover & Ludwig Goransson (Childish Gambino)
Best New Artist
Chloe x Halle
Luke Combs
Greta Van Fleet
H.E.R.
Dua Lipa
Margo Price
Bebe Rexha
Jorja Smith
Best Pop Solo Performance
“Colors” — Beck
“Havana (Live)” — Camila Cabello
“God Is A Woman” — Ariana Grande
“Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?)” — Lady Gaga
“Better Now” — Post Malone
Best Pop Vocal Album
“Camila” — Camila Cabello
“Meaning Of Life” — Kelly Clarkson
“Sweetener” — Ariana Grande
“Shawn Mendes” — Shawn Mendes
“Beautiful Trauma” — P!nk
“Reputation” — Taylor Swift
Best Dance Recording
“Northern Soul” — Above & Beyond featuring Richard Bedford
“Ultimatum” — Disclosure featuring Fatoumata Diawara
“Losing It” — Fisher
“Electricity” — Silk City & Dua Lipa featuring Diplo & Mark Ronson
“Ghost Voices” — Virtual Self
Best Rock Song
“Black Smoke Rising” — Jacob Thomas Kiszka, Joshua Michael Kiszka, Samuel Francis Kiszka & Daniel Robert Wagner, songwriters (Greta Van Fleet)
“Jumpsuit” — Tyler Joseph, songwriter (Twenty One Pilots)
“MANTRA” — Jordan Fish, Matthew Kean, Lee Malia, Matthew Nicholls & Oliver Sykes, songwriters (Bring Me The Horizon) “Masseduction” — Jack Antonoff & Annie Clark, songwriters (St. Vincent)
“Rats” — Tom Dalgety & A Ghoul Writer, songwriters (Ghost)
Best Rock Album
“Rainier Fog”— Alice in Chains
“M A N I A”— Fall Out Boy
“Prequelle“ — Ghost
“From the Fires” — Greta Van Fleet
“Pacific Daydream” —Weezer
Best Urban Contemporary Album
“Everything Is Love” — The Carters
“The Kids Are Alright” — Chloe x Halle
“Chris Dave And The Drumhedz” — Chris Dave And The Drumhedz
“War & Leisure” — Miguel
“Ventriloquism” — Meshell Ndegeocello
Best Rap Album
“Invasion Of Privacy” — Cardi B
“Swimming” — Mac Miller
“Victory Lap” — Nipsey Hussle
“Daytona” — Pusha T
“Astroworld” — Travis Scott
Best Country Album
“Unapologetically” — Kelsea Ballerini
“Port Saint Joe” — Brothers Osborne
“Girl Going Nowhere”— Ashley McBride
“Golden Hour” — Kacey Musgraves
“From A Room: Volume 2″— Chris Stapleton
Best Jazz Vocal Album
“My Mood Is You” — Freddy Cole
“The Questions” — Kurt Elling
“The Subject Tonight Is Love” — Kate McGarry with Keith Ganz & Gary Versace
“If You Really Want” — Raul Midón with The Metropole Orkest, conducted by Vince Mendoza
“The Window” — Cécile McLorin Salvant
Best Gospel Album
“One Nation Under God” — Jekalyn Carr
“Hiding Place” — Tori Kelly
“Make Room” — Jonathan McReynolds
“The Other Side” — The Walls Group
“A Great Work” — Brian Courtney Wilson
Best Latin Pop Album
“Prometo” — Pablo Alboran
“Sincera” — Claudia Brant Musas
“(Un Homenaje al Folclore Latinoamericano en Manos de los Macorinos), Vol. 2” — Natalia Lafourcade
“2:00 AM” — Raquel Sofía
“Vives” — Carlos Vives
Best Americana Album
“By The Way, I Forgive You” — Brandi Carlile
“Things Have Changed” — Bettye LaVette
“The Tree Of Forgiveness” — John Prine
“The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone” — Lee Ann Womack
“One Drop Of Truth” — The Wood Brothers
Best Comedy Album
“Annihilation” — Patton Oswalt
“Equanimity & The Bird Revelation” — Dave Chappelle
“Noble Ape” — Jim Gaffigan
“Standup for Drummers” — Fred Armisen
“Tamborine” — Chris Rock
Best Song Written For Visual Media
“All The Stars” — Kendrick Duckworth, Solána Rowe, Alexander William Shuckburgh, Mark Anthony Spears & Anthony Tiffith (Kendrick Lamar & SZA), “Black Panther”
“Mystery Of Love” — Sufjan Stevens (Sufjan Stevens), “Call Me By Your Name”
“Remember Me” — Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez (Miguel, featuring Natalia Lafourcade), “Coco”
“Shallow” — Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt (Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper), “A Star Is Born”
“This Is Me” — Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, songwriters (Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman Ensemble), “The Greatest Showman”
Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical
Boi-1da
Larry Klein
Linda Perry
Kanye West
Pharrell Williams
The fourth annual Equality Prince William Pride was held at the Harris Pavilion in Manassas, Va. on Saturday, May 17.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The Washington Blade held its 18th annual Summer Kickoff Party in Rehoboth Beach, Del., on Friday, May 16. Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer spoke along with State Sen. Russ Huxtable, CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director Kim Leisey, Blade Editor Kevin Naff, and Clear Space Theatre Managing Director Joe Gfaller. The event raises funds for the Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship in Journalism, which was awarded to AU student Abigail Hatting.
(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)
In some fowl fiction foreshadowing, a gay-owned chicken joint has come home to roost on U Street, taking a page from the chicken window subplot on the HBO show “Looking.”
Last Friday, Lucky Pollo – much more than just a takeout window – stretched its wings atop the busy nightlife corner of 14th and U Streets NW.
Behind the poultry production place is Zach Renovátes, a D.C.-based nightlife operator and managing partner of LGBTQ venues Bunker and District Eagle, as well as the LGBTQ event production company KINETIC Presents.
Renovátes opened Bunker in February 2023 and District Eagle in January of this year. Lucky Pollo is the third in his growing gay empire, though this time there are noshes.
“Lucky Pollo was meant to be fun and a little provocative,” Renovátes said.
Based around its Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken, Lucky Pollo is a quick-service restaurant boasting a small menu of poultry and sides. Renovátes says that the dishes are deeply rooted in Peruvian culinary tradition, “a playful experience alongside seriously good food.”
Lucky Pollo’s signature chicken is steeped in a dozen-plus-spice marinade for 24 hours. The meat is then slow-roasted, rotisserie-style, over oak-wood charcoal. Chicken options include quarter, half, and whole.
Helming the kitchen at Lucky Pollo is Chef Luis Herrera, who brings Peruvian recipes passed down through three generations, including his grandmother Laura’s original creations.
Beyond the full bird, the menu features Peruvian-inspired sides like yuca fries (“I personally love these,” says Renovátes) and fried plantains, as well as comfort classics such as mac and cheese and mashed potatoes, and bowls, wraps, and salads. Herrera oversees development of the multiple sauces (including staff favorite, the “secret green sauce”), crafted in-house using traditional Peruvian ingredients.
Lucky Pollo, in its streetside perch, is an independent concept from District Eagle, open to the public and staying open late (3 a.m. on weekends) to serve both nightlife guests and the wider U Street crowd hungry for late-night bites. However, just beyond the kitchen, tucked in the back lies a vintage 1950s candy machine—labeled “Out of Order,” which serves as the door leading to subterranean District Eagle.
Renovátes notes that when District Eagle is open, security staff will maintain a strict two-line policy, ensuring that those seeking meat to eat will not get entwined with those looking to gain access to District Eagle.
Lucky Pollo unites the need for sustenance with the idea of a bit of fortune, given its motto, “Get Lucky” and the whimsical brand mascot: a leather-booted chicken perched on a horseshoe. Renovátes and his District Eagle business partner had always been interested in opening a restaurant, and the Lucky Pollo space was indeed lucky: It already came with a functional kitchen. Plus, he says, the nearby fast-casual places around 14th and U streets “don’t offer a lot of quality options,” so opening the chicken spot “was a no-brainer.”
The space, designed by NYC creative Jasin Cadic, blends theatrical street-art-style vibes with Keith Haring-inspired wall prints, neon signs, and ceiling-hung chicken figurines —”some edgy, some sweet,” says Renovátes —creating an immersive, playful atmosphere. Lucky Pollo and District Eagle maintain separate amenities for their respective customers.
Lucky Pollo opened last week with a competition to devour a whole rotisserie chicken in the fastest time, with the winner earning $1,000 and a framed spot on the restaurant’s “Wall of Fame.” The opening also featured other games and prizes, and a full crowd spilling out the door.
“We want it to be a great place to eat, but also serve as a playful front for something completely unexpected.” Renovátes says.
On weekends especially, he jokes, the motto will be, ‘Come for the chicken, stay for the cock.’”
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