On November 24th, the Grammy’s released the list of nominations for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards. There was a lot of buzz surrounding the list of nominations once people saw that The Weeknd was not nominated for any category.
The Weeknd himself actually took to Twitter and said “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”
The Weeknd also tweeted “Collaboratively planning a performance for weeks to not be invited? In my opinion zero nominations = you’re not invited!”
Apparently, The Weeknd had been planning a performance for the Grammys for weeks before he saw that he was not even nominated for any category. I agree with the Weeknd’s viewpoint. It doesn’t make sense for The Weeknd to be invited to perform at the awards show, and then not be nominated for anything.
It is also important to look at the music The Weeknd has put out the past year. The Weeknd’s album “After Hours” was one of 2020’s biggest hit albums, along with the song “Blinding Lights” being one of the most successful singles this past year. There is no denying the fact that The Weeknd should have had some nominations for his album.
Harvey Mason Jr., the Recording Academy’s chair and interim president/chief executive officer, did release a statement to CNN basically saying that they understood The Weeknd’s disappointment and that they recognize that he did release excellent music.
For a long time the Grammys have faced criticism since it seems that time and time again, Black artists continue to be ignored. Drake and Nicki Minaj have shown their support for The Weeknd’s recent comments by agreeing that the Grammys are rigged and antiquated.
Drake even went as far as saying “I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards… This is a great time for somebody to start something new that we can build up over time and pass on to the generations to come.”
I have to say that I completely agree with Drake. It is time for something new that is actually committed to diversity within the music industry. The Grammys often place songs or albums in the wrong categories and completely overlook artists who have clearly been successful. We also should not allow an award to determine which artists have been successful or impactful with their music. This is something that can only be decided by the fans.
I personally am not a fan of awards shows but I sometimes would watch the Grammys and it was always obvious to me how Black artists and people of color in the music industry were often overlooked. I don’t believe that the Grammys will change after this, but I do hope something new is created where all artists are welcomed and treated equally.