As the Recording Academy prepares to host the 63rd annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, controversy over the legitimacy of the music industry’s biggest award show continues to escalate.
There has been much criticism in recent years that the Grammy voters are out of touch with the industry they’re supposed to be representing, which came to a head after this year’s nominations when the Weeknd’s Blinding Lights — one of the years’ biggest and most critically acclaimed releases — received not a single nomination in any category, despite the album’s title track spending an entire year in the Billboard top 10.
Rather than stay silent, the Canadian singer took to social media to blast the Recording Academy, calling out the Grammys as “corrupt.”
The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) November 25, 2020
Not only is the Weeknd refusing to back down, he’s taking his battle against the Grammys into perpetuity.
“Because of the secret committees,” the Weeknd said in a statement to the New York Times, “I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.”
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Harvey Mason Jr., currently the interim chief executive of the Recording Academy responded.
“We’re all disappointed when anyone is upset,” Mason told the Times. “But I will say that we are constantly evolving. 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.”
As the Weeknd pointed out, what takes place within those committees is far from transparent.
Chris Anokute, described by the Times as a “longtime music executive” who “trusts Mason as a leader but is less trusting of what happens behind closed doors at the academy,” pointed out it’s clear that, from the standpoint of popularity, the Weeknd “clearly made the album of the year.”
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Said Anokute of the Weeknd: “If his peers didn’t vote for him, that’s a shame — if that’s the truth. We don’t really believe that’s the truth; there’s just no way. But we really don’t know.”
Wassim Slaiby, the Weeknd’s manager, told the Times via email that he’s still not sure why “Blinding Lights” received no nominations. “We were scratching our heads in confusion and wanted answers,” he said.
Slaiby was hopeful that his client’s public statements will encourage other artists to speak out and hopefully lead to lasting change.
“The Grammys should handle their legacy and clean it up to raise the bar to a level where everyone could be proud to hold up that award,” he said. “This is Harvey’s chance to step up and have his legacy be the guy who got the Grammys finally right.”
