A/N: The GRAMMY Awards are coming up, so I thought I'd write a quick little fic about it. There is some fun info about the GRAMMYs in the author's note below, so be sure to check it out.
November 28th 2017
Beca and Chloe were smushed on the couch and staring attentively at the TV. It was 5:30 am and for once in her life, Beca had become a morning person. It was the morning of the announcements of the nominations for the 60th annual GRAMMY Awards. When Chloe had first woken her up at 5, to make sure she was able to watch the nominations, Beca had literally kicked her wife. Not intentionally, of course, but that's what you get for pulling off the covers and tickling Beca's feet to wake her up.
"Can't you watch it, and tell me at a normal time?" Beca had whined. "It's too early."
"Oh my poor baby. Sucks to be a famous music producer, doesn't it?" Chloe said, not the slightest bit sympathetic.
So here they were, half an hour later, with Beca still in pajamas and messy hair, but looking slightly more awake, tucked in next to her wife under a blanket and nursing her mug of coffee. The two girls were intently watching Andra Day announce the nominees, and from what Beca could process in her sleep-deprived brain, there was sure to be some tough competitions.
The first couple of albums Beca worked on were good, and definitely got her noticed, but none of them were good enough to be nominated for a GRAMMY. This time though, it was different. Beca had collaborated with Jay-Z to produce his new album 4:44. Even with the tough competition talks, both the album as well as the song "The Story of O.J." were getting quite a lot of buzz.
Chloe wanted to be front and center for it all and actually had a camera set up in a way that captured both the TV and the couch, to record the whole thing. Beca was secretly a bit excited as well but didn't want to get her hopes up. There were a lot of good albums and producers out there, who are just as deserving, if not more, of a nomination as she was.
As they listened to Andra announce the different categories, the two of them would occasionally voice their opinions on the nominees, but they were mostly waiting to hear her announce the 'Big 4'. The 'Big 4', were for the best new artist, the record of the year, the song of the year, and album of the year.
Jay-Z was not new to the music scene, so he was obviously out of the running for the Best New Artist category, but he was eligible for all of the rest, thereby making Beca, as a producer, part of the nominations.
Beca was currently spacing out, thinking of all of the work she'd done over the years, and how crazy it was to even be watching the nominees be announced, when she felt herself getting smacked in the arm from a frantic redhead. She was brought back to earth just in time to hear Andra say, "The nominees for Record of the Year are…"
Chloe squealed and grabbed for Beca's hand, jostling Beca's hold on her coffee mug and almost causing her to spill. "Watch it woman," Beca said, teasingly. "If I have to go to the hospital with a burn and cause you to miss the nominations, you'll be sorry."
"The nominees for the Record of the Year are: "Redbone", by Childish Gambino. "Despacito", by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber. "The Story of O.J.", by Jay-Z. "HUMBLE", by Kendrick Lamar. "24K Magic", by Bruno Mars."
Chloe gasped loudly and screamed, "Becs. Did you hear that?!"
"YES!" Beca said happily, forgetting that it was barely 6am and that they had 2 small children who were by some miracle, still sleeping. She didn't forget for too long though because a loud wail could suddenly be heard from the second floor. It was Brittany.
"Mama. Mama. MAMA!"
Shortly thereafter a grumble came from her older child, "Ugh. Mom, make her stop!"
Beca groaned. It was going to be a long day if their kids were up that early. Even though Brittany was calling out for Beca, Chloe stood up and said, "I got her. It's my fault she woke up early anyway. You watch the TV."
Happy that she didn't have to move from her comfortable position, Beca braced herself for two tiny humans who were about to grace her with their presence. Beca could hear Chloe babbling to Brittany on the baby monitor, and also heard Anna's heavy footsteps on the stairs, signifying that the girl was not pleased at being woken up this early.
Rubbing her eyes, a very tired Anna, with bed head to rival her Mama's, climbed on Beca's lap and snuggled in to her side. "Whaddawatchin?" she mumbled sleepily, pointing lazily at the TV screen. Beca tried to think of how to explain how important being considered to win something, but not necessarily be guaranteed to win anything was to a kindergartener. "Well…"
Just then, Chloe came down the stairs with Brittany, and luckily intervened, purposely glazing over a few technicalities. "Mama worked really hard and now we're seeing if she gets a prize for any of it!"
"Oh," Anna looked confused. "Why wouldn't she get a prize?"
"You're sweet," Chloe said, smiling at Anna as Beca chuckled and squeezed her daughter closer. "But now we have to be quiet, so we can hear what they're saying."
"Okay," Anna said, turning to Brittany who was making random cooing noises as she chewed a clump of Chloe's hair. "Britt, stop. We gotta be quiet!"
A few more categories were announced, and then Andra could be heard saying "In the category for Best Rap Album, we have "DAMN." by Kendrick Lamar. "Culture," by Migos. "Laila's Wisdom," by Rapsody. "Flower Boy," by Tyler, the Creator. "4:44," by Jay-Z.
At that, Beca was thrilled that the album she put so much time into was dominating so many of the important categories. She allowed herself to relax and celebrate a bit. She wasn't quite as enthusiastic as Chloe was, but she was getting there.
By the time "Album of the Year, came up, the Mitchell house was buzzing with excitement. When it ended up that 4:44 was being nominated along with Childish Gambino, Kendrick Lamar, Lorde and Bruno Mars, Chloe and Beca both jumped off the couch and started shouting. All together Jay-Z scored eight nominations, which was the most out of all the nominees for the year.
Anna didn't understand why her parents were so being so loud, especially because she didn't hear her mother's name being called, but she squealed none the less, wanting to feel included. Beca held Brittany in her arms and cheered, as Chloe and Anna danced around the living room in celebration of the GRAMMY nominations.
After a few minutes, they settled back on the couch and Beca let out a deep breath. "Whew. What a way to start a Tuesday!"
"I think this is cause for a Family Day!" Chloe chirped.
"Yeah! Family Day!" Anna screamed.
Family Day was when the Mitchell's went and did something special to celebrate an award or a big accomplishment. This time, "Family Day" turned in to "Family Mini-Vacation" and when the family of 4 arrived home from their week in Palm Springs, Beca found herself busier than ever. While Beca was away, she found out she was also nominated for Producer of the Year, non-classical.
Being nominated for working on an album that has gotten so much recognition meant that Beca was not only basically obligated to go, but that she had to go find an outfit for the occasion as well. There weren't many things that Beca really hated but attending red carpet events and clothes shopping for special occasions were 2 of them. Beca much preferred staying out of the limelight and at home with her family. She didn't make music because she wanted to be famous, she did it because she loved it. The fame just came with the job.
That's how she found herself standing in front of a store window with Stacie, who came to L.A. to help Beca pick out something to wear. Beca did have a stylist, which she still couldn't wrap her head around, but preferred Stacie's help over pretty much everyone else but Chloe.
"Do you think she'll like it?" Beca asked, as she spun around in front of the mirror.
"Like it? She's going to die. You're going to be the only thing every man, woman and child in America will be looking at. And probably even the world.
"That's not terrifying at all," Beca said with a shudder, as she turned towards the dressing rooms to go change back in to her street clothes.
January 28th 2018
Chloe and Beca had arrived in New York mid morning the day before the GRAMMYs and it had been go, go, go ever since. As soon as they had checked in to the Whitby hotel and put down their bags, they were shuttled off to the GRAMMYs rehearsal, as well as the pre-GRAMMY brunch.
They returned back to their hotel later that evening totally exhausted, but Beca was un-able to wind down, due to all of her nervous energy. Eventually she was able to fall asleep after FaceTiming with Anna and Brittany, but she was still a bundle of nerves.
The entire weekend would've just been even more chaotic trying to travel with 2 small children and making sure they were taken care of, so the girls had been sent to Aunt Aubrey and Uncle Jesse's for an extended sleepover.
The flight to New York was fairly painless, even though Beca still hated flying. Since Beca owned the plane, they got to relax in a spacious main cabin instead of having to fly surrounded by the general public. However, that was the last bit of relaxing the Beca and Chloe would have for a while.
It was the day of the GRAMMYs and Beca was in full on panic mode. The brunette was no stranger to stress, but she got anxious whenever there was a lot going on, and there was definitely a massive amount of activity happening all at the same time. the Pre-Telecast Ceremony, interviews and pictures on the red carpet, dinner, the actual awards ceremony, and then of course, all the after parties.
Beca hated the red carpet and interview portion of awards shows, and was very tempted to skip it, but her publicist insisted that she do a few, because her appearance at the GRAMMYs was rare. She would much rather bypass the whole thing and go straight to the tables, but it wasn't an option this time. Beca made her displeasure be known, before reluctantly agreeing. Fortunately, they didn't ask her to do as many interviews as a producer, than they did the actual artists themselves. Most of the interview requests were due to Beca's foray into the music world as a DJ and for her roles in various movies.
By the time Beca was expected to walk the red carpet, she had already taken 2 Xanax pills and stress ate pretty much an entire column of the Taco Bell drive thru menu, which she unwittingly disclosed on national television while talking to Josh Horowitz from MTV. Luckily, Josh took it in stride, and mentioned that he once did an interview with Jennifer Lawrence who stuffed 10 marshmallows into her mouth for a chubby bunny contest who then revealed an embarrassing dating story from when she was 16. As the Xanax kicked in, Beca was starting to actually have fun walking the red carpet with Chloe. They posed for pictures, and Chloe kept telling Beca funny things to keep her calm, and even smile every once and a while.
Beca's least favorite question during interviews, wasn't one that had to do with her music at all though. It was the dreaded "what are you wearing tonight?" question. Beca didn't really see the point in asking what she was wearing (clothes, duh) and most of the time, she forgot who designed it anyway. However, tonight she was all anyone could talk about. She wore a very stylish black Band of Outsiders pantsuit. Her cleavage was out for the world to see, and she probably would've accidentally flashed the world, had it not been for some very strategically placed tape.
Chloe on the hand, was rocking the red carpet in a black strapless A-line dress, with a sheer black polka-dot overlay. She wouldn't be Chloe though, if she didn't have some sort of accessory for her outfit, so she brought a pink clutch for a pop of color.
When they finally got to their seats, Beca was much more relaxed than she was earlier on in the day. It helped that the venue provided copious amounts of alcohol pretty much everywhere you looked too. Beca and Chloe sat at table 19, with the rest of the people who worked on Jay-Z's album 4:44, to eat dinner. Beca and Jay-Z caught up after not seeing each other since the album finished, and Chloe talked about raising kids with Beyoncé. Blue Ivy was the same age as Anna, and the twins, Rumi and Sir, were only about 1 year younger than Brittany. By the time the main meal arrived, Chloe had already set up a play date for Blue and Anna.
"Please take your seats, the show is about to begin," a disembodied voice announced, and all of the attendees wrapped up their conversations slowly began to make their way back to their designated places. Beca suddenly found herself getting nervous again. She reached out for Chloe's hand, and thankfully, Chloe was a step ahead of her, and already had moved her hand towards her wife, giving it a soft squeeze of reassurance.
All of the categories had some very impressive artists, but everyone at Beca and Chloe's table was focused on Jay-Z's multiple nominations, as well as Beca's potential producer award. At the Pre-Telecast, Jay-Z picked up GRAMMYs for Best Rap Performance, Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Music Video. Jay-Z was also nominated for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year which would be announced during the ceremony. The Producer of the Year award that Beca was up for would be announced during the ceremony as well.
The show seemed to go by slowly, as the categories were revealed, and the presenters said some short funny monologues said nice things about the nominees. Beca pretty much tuned out, just like when they watched the nominations at home, until she felt a sharp pain in her side, from where Chloe had elbowed her in the ribs.
"… Rap Album goes to," Camilla Cabello, the presenter said, "Jay-Z, 4:44."
The entire table cheered, as Jay-Z kissed his wife, stood up and quickly made his way towards the stage. "Congrats on your first GRAMMY babe," Chloe said, as she clapped for Jay-Z who had reached the stairs. Since Beca worked as a producer on the album and was credited, she got to receive a GRAMMY as well. Beca just smiled back, slightly stunned. As he walked on stage to give his acceptance speech, it was announced that he also won for Best Rap Song.
The night went on in a similar fashion, broken up with short breaks, for when they aired commercials on the televisions. About midway through the night, the moment Beca had been waiting for, arrived.
"Here to present the Producer of the Year - Non Classical, award, is P!nk," the host, James Corden said, as P!nk walked out onto the stage, wearing a beautiful red dress to announce the category.
At that, Beca sat up straight in her chair, suddenly VERY alert. She glanced around the table at everyone, who all gave her supporting nods and smiles. Beca felt a bit better. These people were here for her, no matter what. And even if she didn't win, she knew she did her best with what she had, and that is all you can ask for. (But if you asked Beca, she would say she did a pretty damn good job.)
"To be a great producer, music has to be a big part of your soul, and these next 6 people have some of the biggest souls out there. The nominees are: Calvin Harris, Beca Mitchell, No I.D., Blake Mills, Greg Kurstin, and The Stereotypes." As it had the entire night, the camera cut to each person as their name was announced, and when it came to Beca she tried to mask her nerves, and gave a shaky wave.
"And the winner is," P!nk opened the envelope, paused, for dramatic effect, and then announced, "Beca Mitchell, for 4:44."
Beca sat there stunned as Chloe screamed beside her, and the rest of the table stood up to applaud her. Pulling Beca to her feet, Chloe said, "Bec, you gotta go on stage now."
Oh right. That was a thing. Beca had totally forgot that she would have to give a speech if she won. She was so sure she wouldn't, that she didn't have anything to say. To her, it was just an honor to be nominated. A panicked look went across Beca's face but was quickly erased when Chloe softly kissed her. "You can do it, just speak from your heart. Now go," Chloe encouraged, as if she was able to read Beca's mind.
Beca made her way towards the stage, the short walk feeling like miles. When she reached the stairs, she sent a silent prayer up to the music gods that she wouldn't trip or mess it up by dropping her award, and before she knew it, she was being handed a statuette and standing in front of a microphone that was slightly taller than she was.
"Wow. Um, okay. I wasn't expecting this at all. I don't really have anything prepared, 'cuz I didn't think I would win so…" she trailed off. "I am just so stoked to be here. Sorry. I don't say stuff like that. That was bad. Um. I don't really know what to say. I'm bad at words and feelings, especially under pressure, and this is a lot. Uh, anyway… I'm just really so happy to be here with all of you tonight. It has been so amazing and I can't thank everyone enough, but I'll try.
First, let me say thank you to the Recording Academy, for this tremendous honor and to Jay-Z for letting me work on this album with him. Thank you for taking a chance on this scrappy little nobody. They say when you do what you love, it never feels like work, and I can honestly say, I have loved collaborating on this with you, Jay-Z. To my amazing friends and family, thank you for being so supportive and understanding and loving. You weirdos are the best, and my life is better with you in it. To my daughters, Anna and Brittany, this award is dedicated for the two of you. This is proof that if you work hard and follow your dreams, you can do pretty much anything you put your mind to. And lastly, I'd like to thank my wife Chloe. I love you. I'll always be the rain cloud to your sunshine."
Holding up her award, Beca looks at it and said, "All I can say is thanks, really. I feel like I've said thank you so many times it doesn't even sound like a word anymore, but it's true. This award means the world to me, and I love you awesome nerds. Beca out."
Beca was escorted off the stage with P!nk and shuttled in to the press room where she was immediately bombarded with flashes of light and voices asking her questions. Beca answered as fast as she could, just wanting to get back to Chloe's side. When she finally was free to go, she made a bee-line towards her wife, and got back just in time to hear Jennifer Lopez announce the Best New Artist award to Alessia Cara.
The night ended up with Jay-Z making a clean sweep, and everyone was going to the Roc Nation after party, hosted by the label's distributor company, Universal Music Group, but Beca and Chloe only wanted to go back to their hotel and celebrate in their own way.
As the two laid in bed afterwards, Beca could not stop remembering the journey it took to get to where she is today, the good and the bad. All the stress and late nights and early mornings and time away from her loved ones was worth it. All the fun times in the studio and just having jam sessions was worth it. Everything happened for a reason, and it all ended up in a GRAMMY.
"I can hear you thinking," Chloe said, "Stop over analyzing life, and just be happy."
"Oh, I'm happy, trust me," Beca replied. "I would've been happy even if I didn't win any GRAMMYs, because I have you. That's one thing I can always count on to be there for me. You and music."
"You'll always have me, my little rain cloud. But now, if you don't mind, this sunshine is going to bed. Chloe out," she teased.
"Oh God, I can't believe I said that on TV," Beca groaned, as she rolled over on to her back, throwing an arm over her forehead dramatically.
When Beca and Chloe arrived home Anna and Brittany were very excited. As soon as Beca and Chloe walked through the door they spotted their daughters. Anna ran over to Chloe and screeched loudly. "MOMMY! I WATCHED YOU AND MAMA ON TV! I saw them take lots of pictures of you on that red strip. Uncle Jesse said Mama looked nice, but Aunt Aubrey said she forgot her shirt."
At that, Beca glared at Aubrey, who sent Beca a smirk to rival her own.
"Really? What else did you see on TV?" Chloe asked, slightly amused at her excitement.
"I watched Mama make a speech! You said my name on TV!" Anna continued excitedly, turning to Beca who had picked up Brittany and was making funny faces at her. "You told a whole room of strangers about me and Brittany and that the shiny bell was for us! I'm gonna work hard so I can be like you."
Beca's heart swelled with pride and she was reminded yet again of how she had the best family on the planet.
GRAMMY or no GRAMMY, Beca was a winner in their books, which was all that mattered.
A/N 2: I put a lot of thought and effort in to all of my stories, and try to be as accurate as possible. There are obviously some things that I had to make up since the 2018 GRAMMYs haven't actually happened yet, and there was some info I just couldn't find. However, I did a lot of extensive research, and have some fun info on the GRAMMYs to share with you:
This year, there are 30 fields, and 84 categories within those fields. Many of the awards are presented at the Pre-Show, including Producer of the Year. However, because I wanted to, I made Producer of the Year be part of the live telecast.
The 60th annual Grammys will be held on January 28th 2018, in Madison Square Garden. It will be the first time the GRAMMYs will be telecast in New York City since the 45th GRAMMY awards in 2003.
The awards were announced at 8:30am ET (which is 5:30 am in California) on November 28th 2017. There is a whole PDF of information about producing credits I researched when writing this story, which you can find if you search google for GRAMMY awards and then "producer definitions for awards". If you don't feel like looking it up, I will briefly describe the document. Basically, if you're credited at all on a GRAMMY-winning recording, you get acknowledged with GRAMMY certificates. However, you only get a statuette if you are credited as a producer or engineer. For the Album categories (Best Country Album, Best Reggae Album, etc.) credited producers and engineers also have to have worked on 51% or more of the Album to receive GRAMMY statuettes. Only mastering engineers are eligible in the categories of Album of the Year, Best Historical Album, Best Surround Sound Album, Best Engineered Album Non-Classical and Best Engineered Album Classical.
The GRAMMY Awards are presented by the Recording Academy, and were originally called a Gramophone Award. A gramophone is an old fashioned term for a record player, which plays vinyls and phonograph records. The GRAMMY award is shaped like a gramophone because of this.
If you win an Emmy (for Television), a GRAMMY (for Music), an Academy Award (also known as an Oscar, for work in the Film Industry) and a Tony (for Broadway Theater), you are considered to be an EGOT winner. There are currently 12 EGOT winners, Richard Rodgers, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg, Scott Rudin and Robert Lopez.
Also, in case anyone was wondering what I imagine Beca's GRAMMY outfit looks like, just look up Anna Kendrick's pantsuit from the February 2015 GRAMMYs. I also imagined Chloe's outfit to be Brittany's look at the June 2013 Much Music Awards. P!nk's outfit is the one she wore at the 2014 GRAMMYs.
Hope you enjoyed this story. Until next time.
