2 Alums win 4 grammys
Two former Seattle Central students walked away with four Grammys during the 56th Grammy Awards Sunday night in Los Angeles. Rapper Macklemore, a.k.a. Ben Haggerty, attended college here in 1999-2002, 2009 and trumpet player Owuor Arunga studied music in 2000-2001.
When accepting the Grammy for best new artist, Macklemore thanked his fans for their grassroots support. “Before there was any media, before there was any buzz, before there was a story, there was our fans,” he said during the televised show. He pointed out that their Best Rap Album “The Heist” was recorded without a record label deal.
The Los Angles Times writer was surprised by their winning four of the seven nominated categories and reported: “In Sunday night’s biggest and most surprising statuette haul, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won big in their Grammy’s debut.” These were the most Grammys ever won in one year by a Seattle group.
In addition to Best Rap Album, the group won for Best New Artist, Best Rap Song for their hit “Thrift Shop” and Best Rap Performance, also for “Thrift Shop”.
Seattle Times music critic Paul DeBarros covered the ceremony:
http://seattletimes.com/html/musicnightlife/2022764827_grammyreport1xml.html