Opinions on the Grammys and disappointment that comes with the annual event. PHOTO CREDIT: InfoBae.com
I, like many people, am a fan of music. Yet every year, I seem to be disappointed by the Grammy Awards ceremony.
This year was unfortunately no different. My biggest gripe with the Academy is their lack of diversity in their awards. Rap and hip hop categories, which often feature people of color (POC) artists, are often overshadowed by pop, country and rock categories, which are traditionally more white.
This year, only one rap award was televised, best rap performance, which was awarded to Baby Keem
Tyler, The Creator’s win for Best Rap Album for “Call Me If You Get Lost” was not televised. This was his second win at the Grammys, both coming from consecutive albums (he won for “IGOR” in 2019.)
After the 2020 Grammy awards, Tyler criticized the Recording Academy for consistently grouping Black artists into one genre, even when “IGOR” spanned across many different musical styles.
“On one side, I’m very grateful that what I made could just be acknowledged in a world like this,” he said. “But also, it sucks that whenever we, and I mean guys that look like me, do anything that’s genre-bending, they always put it in a ‘rap’ or ‘urban’ category.”
Kanye West added two new Grammy awards to his collection, winning Best Rap Song (“Jail”) and Best Melodic Rap Performance (“Hurricane”).
In addition, his 10th studio album, “Donda,” received a nomination for Album of the Year.
Ye was initially invited to perform at the ceremony, but due to recent controversy with his family and Pete Davidson, the Academy canceled his performance.
The voting process seems to lead to controversy every year, especially surrounding Black and POC artists.
Recently, The Weeknd voiced his concerns about the Recording Academy’s voting and nomination process. After his historically chart-topping album “After Hours” received no Grammy nominations, The Weeknd made the decision to protest the Grammy awards last year.
For context, his album “After Hours” spent a record 40 weeks atop the Billboard R&B albums list while top track, “Blinding Lights” was considered the biggest song of 2020.
The Recording Academy has promised to change the voting and nomination process.
“And this year, as in past years, we are going to take a hard look at how to improve our awards process, including the nomination review committees,” Harvey Mason Jr., the CEO of the Recording Academy, said in 2021.
What’s really concerning is that even though rap, hip hop and R&B, which are historically linked to people of color and have been dominating the charts for years, the predominantly Black genres do not get the same coverage in the media.
The Grammys and other major awards shows are plagued with performative activism.
In my opinion, it’s ironic that the Grammys preach how important music’s role is in building communities, yet, their nomination and voting process consistently divides fans. Often, the performance lineups appear to show their appreciation for Black artists, but those who end up taking home the prize are white.
Many other artists of color won Grammys this year, including, SZA, Doja Cat, Anderson .Paak, Jon Batiste, H.E.R and the aforementioned Baby Keem, Tyler, The Creator and Kanye West.
All made some incredible music this year, making the music world richer with each track. However, there is still a long way to go.