A Portland-Based Electronic Producer Won a Grammy Last Night

Remix master RAC took home a golden gramophone for—what else?—Best Remixed Recording.

Andre Allen Anjos, aka RAC. IMAGE: Courtesy of Bandcamp.
By Matthew Singer

Let's be real: For the big-name pop stars who get all the screen time, the Grammys don't mean jack shit. Maybe Kanye will feign throwing a fit if he doesn't win, but you've got to believe Beyoncé is smart enough to realize that it doesn't matter whether a bunch of boring old white people vote to give her a statuette or not.

For younger, less-established artists, though, winning a Grammy can be both a feather in the cap and a foot in the door toward bigger things—just ask Esperanza Spalding. And last night, another one of Portland's own took home a golden gramophone.

Producer André Allen Anjos—a.k.a. RAC, or Remix Artist Collective—won the Best Remixed Recording for his reworking of Bob Moses' "Tearing Me Up." It happened before the actual telecast, but that didn't dampen his excitement.

Originally from Portugal, Anjos started his career in Greenville, Illinois. But the RAC project really took off after he relocated to Portland. He's remixed everyone Kings of Leon to Lady Gaga, earning a reputation for pushing the art of the remix beyond club bangers and into more textural and emotional territory. He was nominated in the same category last year, where he lost to Dave Audé's remix of "Uptown Funk."

Related: "RAC's Five Favorite Remixes."

Congratulations to Andre. Here's hoping his career continues to grow to the point where Grammy wins will be irrelevant to him!

 

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