Grammys 2018 best performances: Ke$ha, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino floor audience

The 60th Annual Grammy Awards were about a lot of things – from acknowledging the role of black RnB and hip-hop in contemporary music to promoting and uplifting the Time's Up movement, which is primarily all about safety and equality at the workplace environment.

And sure enough – the artists performing this year had not come to play. From Kendrick Lamar to Childish Gambino and Lady Gaga to one of the most phenomenal performances in Grammys' history by Ke$ha – here are the top five performances from the Grammys 2018.

Also read: Grammys 2018 complete winners list

1. Praying – Kesha with Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Julia Michaels, Bebe Rexha and Andra Day

Kesha's new album Rainbow has been exploding charts and winning hearts ever since its first single Praying was released and sure enough, Kesha didn't just sing the song.

Joined by the iconic likes of Cyndi Lauper, Bebe Rexha and Camilla Cabello, Kesha's performance was more of deliverance – a statement of liberation and freedom from the recent murky past she has been in.

Supported by the Resistance Revival Chorus, Kesha belted her emotions out – as raw as they could be – accompanied with heavy sobs in the end as the entire choir hugged her and the audience offered her a standing ovation.

2. DAMN – Kendrick Lamar

With an act supported by little excerpts from Dave Chapelle in the beginning, there's hardly anything that could go wrong and sure enough, the humorous take on social satire was more than just welcomed by the audience.

A drummer with a giant drum setting off crazy pyrotechnics might seem like a clichéd tactic now but Kendrick's track DNA has been a forever-banger so it definitely raised the bar up high, right at the beginning of the night

3. Finesse – Bruno Mars and Cardi B

With a five-time Grammy winner and probably one of the biggest break-outs in the history of music ever, you'd think you're ready for what to except, but this performance with all its colour and vibrancy just proved everyone wrong.

Trust Bruno's performances to be brilliantly produced when it came to the dance moves – with jack swings and the running man, a glorious tribute to "In Living Colour". And as for Cardi – well, she was Cardi B at her finest, pepping up heartbeats for everybody in the audience

4. Terrified – Childish Gambino

Donald Glover a.k.a Childish Gambino's performance was armed with a very 2018-esque Teddy Pendergrass vibe yet that wasn't all.

He did it all – from rocking a white suit on state and showing the entire world how to pull an RnB act on stage right, in the most sensuous way possible.

Bonus bit? He was joined by his young cast-mate from The Lion King, JD McCrary and the duo wailed their way to glory.

5. Despacito – Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee

This performance was all about etching in everyone's mind a solid proof that the world is still not over what was probably the biggest imploding summer track of all times.

Congratulations, audience, you now have Despacito stuck in your head for the rest of 2018 too. And it was the original version minus young Biebs, so all was good.

Other performances included DJ Khaled, Rihanna and Bryson Tiller's Wild thoughts and Lady Gaga's Joanne and Million Things that failed to make the cut, knowing the benchmark the artists' have set for their own selves in the past, sadly.