The 63rd Grammy nominations: unjustified snubs and unreasonable genre-typing
The 2021 Grammy nominations open up the debate as to whether the Recording Academy should still determine the best in music.
Source: Flickr
Soon after the release of the 2021 Grammy Nominations, the Recording Academy faced severe backlash for its decisions which were largely deemed biased. Although this was the first time the Recording Academy has been strongly and explicitly criticised by influential artists, it was most definitely not the first media academy to be called out for its prejudiced categorisation of work. And, rightfully so.
This year, with the pandemic keeping most indoors, new and inventive music seemed to be one of the saving graces. However, although chart-topping albums like Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” and The Weeknd’s “After Hours” reigned most of our summer playlists, only one of them received recognition. Had it been the case that Grammys weren't the most prestigious musical awards ceremony and we weren’t in a post-George Floyd world where Black Lives Matter has gone beyond zeitgeist status into the realm of religion, perhaps the racist critique of the academy would have been put to rest and less pertinent. But, the reality is far from so.
One of the most enduring critiques of the Grammys has been their prejudice in nominations and categorisation. This year, although the Recording Academy went to great lengths to not deserve accusations of racism, even by dropping the word ‘urban’ from nominations, transparency and imposition of genres by archetyping artists based on repertoire is still an issue.
Source: Flickr
Despite the increasing number of Black nominations which shows improvement, as stated in the criticisms that came from Drake and the Weekend who called the Grammys “corrupt”, it is clear the Recording Academy’s recent attempts to address diversity and inclusion have just not been effective. Yes, Beyoncé received the most nominations this year and yes, the first Black female country artist got recognition. But this year also saw Justin Bieber being nominated in the Pop category for his clearly R&B album and the Weeknd being completely snubbed despite producing chart topping and great, innovative music.
Therefore, in spite of what can be deemed rather truthfully “acts of performative activism”, the Grammys have a long way to go, or perhaps should not go on at all? And this is no stupid concern or suggestion.
The question of whether or not the Grammys should continue to be seen as an authority on the quality of music or accomplishment of artists is timelier than ever. And though the easy answer is that they should not, if the Recording Academy reviews its methods of recognition and actively works towards transparency as is demanded of it, such radical measures may not even be desired.
Right now, categorisation notwithstanding, it would be incorrect to assume that the Grammys reward the critically acclaimed over the commercially successful. Routinely, songs, albums and artists acknowledged by both critics and the general public as boundary-breaking are overlooked in favour of more mainstream output. This is what needs monumental change, or else, more artists will be joining the likes of Drake and Frank Ocean in denying recognition all together, even when they are fully deserving of it.
If the Academy actually starts recognising more Black and more diverse talent where it matters most, rather than just continuing to dump the bulk of them into renamed “urban” categories, and starts rewarding creative work for what it is, instead of genre-typing artists, everyone would perhaps start respecting the Grammys as an institution of musical recognition more sincerely. And ultimately, real artistic appreciation would no longer be a matter of what a group of people in a room “objectively” happen to think is worth the appraisal in a given year.
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