The Grammys are around the corner and it is THE biggest music award show of the year. But ever since the nominations were announced we have seen the vague,subliminal and not so subliminal tweets and IG stories from some of the biggest artists in the industry. Especially, from those who weren’t nominated.
The politics of award shows have always been the topic of discussion especially when it comes to black artists and how they deserve to be recognized for their art. This year is no different (quarantine or no quarantine, WE WANT ANSWERS! PERIODT!). The most noted celebrity that came out and voiced how they felt was Teyanna Taylor. Her most recent work, The Album, gave us great pop and contemporary sounds and showed us why she is one of the hottest music artist around. Even though most people thought the album was worthy of at least one nomination, it was not nominated at all and with that seeming to be the straw that broke the camel's back, she took to social media to voice how underappreciated she feels by her label and that she will be retiring from music. Along with stating how unappreciated she felt, Teyanna also pointed out how there was a lack of women in the Best R&B Album category. Most artists were right behind her when it came to stating how they felt snubbed by such a huge music platform, even artists who WERE nominated had a lot to say. Justin Beiber felt as though his album being nominated in the pop category wasn’t quite right. The Wknd took to twitter and stated That the Grammys “remained corrupt” and how they owed him and his fans an explanation. Nicki Minaj (who was nominated 7 times for Pink Friday and did not win once) also had something to say about how the Grammys are very on brand when it comes to not being in tune with what is going on in music. Meanwhile Bruno Mars trolled everyone with his IG post stating, “ If you don’t release music, you can’t lose any grammys. #ThinkAboutIt”
This isn’t anything new that we are witnessing when it comes to nominations and who deserves and doesn’t deserve one, especially when it relates to black artists. Back in 1989 DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith won the first Grammy award for Rap Performance and instead of basking in that monumental and what should’ve been euphoric moment, the artists boycotted due to the fact that the rap categories went untelevised. That prompted most rap artists of that time to stand with Will Smith in his boycott. Even though times have changed a bit since then, the fact still remains that the people on the academy tend to always miss the mark when it comes to determining what is hot in music and showing recognition to black artists.
I have pulled up some of the nominations for the 2021 Grammy awards for you to take a gander at, do you feel this is accurate or not? Let me know who you think should be on the list.
Record of The Year
Album of the Year
Song of the Year
Best New Artist
Best Pop Solo Performance
Best Pop Vocal Album
Best Rap Performance
About the Author: Germôna Sharp
