Over the years, more and more of our favorite artists have spoken out about The GRAMMY Awards, questioning the validity of such an outdated institution.
Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty
This year, the biggest controversy has come from The Weeknd’s camp, which follows the singer not getting any nominations for the 2021 ceremony, despite releasing his album, After Hours, and some huge singles throughout 2020. According to reports from TMZ, Abel opted for a performance at the Super Bowl next year instead of performing at The GRAMMYs, which led to the awards show retaliating by not giving him any nominations. Unfortunately for the long-running special, this isn’t the first time a major artist has said that the whole thing is a business exchange and not actually a show of talent.
Here’s a look at some other artists who have called out The GRAMMYs for getting it wrong
Once the 2021 nominations were announced earlier this week, Nicki Minaj took a walk down memory lane to remind us all that she didn’t get the nomination she should have when she was a new artist.
“Never forget the Grammys didn’t give me my best new artist award when I had 7 songs simultaneously charting on Billboard & bigger first week than any female rapper in the last decade—went on to inspire a generation,” she tweeted. “They gave it to the white man Bon Iver. #PinkFriday.”
Earlier this year, before the 2020 show, Diddy called out the Grammys for ignoring Black artists during a pre-awards gala.
“I say this with love to the Grammys, because you really need to know this. Every year, y’all be killing us, man,” he said. “I’m talking about the pain — I’m speaking for all the artists here, producers, the executives — the amount of time that it takes to make these records, to pour your heart out into it, and you just want an even playing field?”
“Truth be told, hip-hop has never been respected by the Grammys,” he continued. “Black music has never been respected by the Grammys to the point that it should be.”
A few years back, Kanye West said onstage that he would be boycotting the GRAMMYs in Frank Ocean’s honor, since his album wasn’t nominated for any awards…even though it wasn’t submitted for consideration. He also called out the Academy for having Lady Gaga perform years ago despite originally not being nominated. West claimed that the committee rewrote their own rules to not only warrant her opening the show, but to squeeze in a nomination for her as well– something he wanted the Academy to do for Ocean after he consciously missed the deadline for consideration.
Jay-Z also has a history of boycotting and speaking out against the GRAMMYs.
In 1999, when DMX didn’t receive a nomination, Jay spoke out against the awards and refused to attend the ceremony, doing the same a few years later in 2002. That year, he said, “Rappers deserve more attention from the Grammy committee and from the whole world. If it’s got a gun, everybody knows about it–but if we go on a world tour, no one knows.”
Following The Weeknd’s snub this year, Drake wrote a long post advising his fellow artists and fans to stop getting worked up over The GRAMMYs every single year.
“I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards and just accept that what once was the highest form of recognition may no longer matter to the artists that exist now and the ones that come after,” Drake wrote on his Instagram stories. “It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just can’t change their ways.”
“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,” he continued.
While Snoop Dogg has been nominated for 18 GRAMMYs, he hasn’t taken home any.
In 2016, the rapper took a stand against the show, posting a photo to Instagram, writing, “No need to blow smoke up my _ _ _ I’d rather blow some real smoke with my loved ones and count the 17xs I been invited with the same results Shot out to my family that getting it in winning hosting and just showing up for the cause enjoy the festivities my green room open all night not like there’s”
The previous year, he also spoke out against the awards, saying, “F**k the Grammys. We need a hip-hop show for real n****z ‘n real mcs.”
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