Rap luminary Kendrick Lamar was the big winner at the 58th Grammy Awards on Monday night, but he was denied an album of the year trophy by Taylor Swift, who prevailed for her smash hit “1989.”
Accepting the top award for her late-2014 album, Swift struck a feminist note, urging young female artists to focus on hard work and pursuing goals without allowing others to “take credit” or discourage them.
Her remarks were widely interpreted as a response to Kanye West.
West’s newly released album “The Life of Pablo” includes the song “Famous,” which posits that he helped make her famous with his much talked-about interruption of her acceptance speech at MTV’s 2009 VMA Awards.
Producer-musician Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk,” the radio ubiquity featuring singer Bruno Mars, was named record of the year.