Are the Grammys losing their credibility?
Are the Grammys losing their credibility?
Marley Davis-Hewitt / Contributor
On Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021, The Weeknd performed at the Super Bowl after having an astonishingly historical year in music. His number one album “After Hours” had major record breaking hits like “Heartless” and “Blinding Lights.” American entertainment media magazine Billboard even crowned “Blinding Lights” song of the year. However, despite receiving critical acclaim and notoriety, The Weeknd was nowhere to be found on this year’s Grammy nominee ballots.
The Grammys announced its nominations back in December, while fans will have to wait until March 14 to discover this year’s winners. The Recording Academy decides the winners, with each entry voted on by Academy members. To be a voting member, one would have to be one of the following: an artist, producer, engineer, or songwriter who has two strong recommendations from music industry peers to submit before a deadline. The Weeknd submitted his album as well as 6 different songs across twelve different categories, yet not one submission received a nominee.
It was rumored that The Weeknd may have made a choice between performing at the Super Bowl or being a Grammy nominee. Although this rumor has not yet been confirmed, this is not the first occasion that The Grammys have been accused of snubbing an artist by denying them prestige for their achievements.
Conversations of The Grammys losing their credibility recently became a larger topic in 2014 when rapper Macklemore won Best New Artist over Kendrick Lamar. The Grammy Awards are held to “honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position.” Kendrick Lamar is respected as a true hip-hop lyricist who sonically represents the roots of the genre while offering fresh word play and rhetoric, while Macklemore has a more alternative and commercial sound. Both emerged with debut albums that year; however, The Academy gave the award to Macklemore which resulted in fans losing their trust in the Grammys’ credibility. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Mackelmore himself stated that the award should have gone to Lamar and that, “It’s weird and it sucks that I robbed you.”
It has been historically recorded that the public often seems to disagree with the decisions of The Academy which could explain why the award show has seen a steady decline in views, with the most recent ceremony in 2020 drawing the show’s smallest audience in over a decade. This year, Justin Bieber’s simple radio pop song, “Yummy” is nominated for a Grammy despite having spent only 20 weeks on the Billboard charts compared to The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights,” 61 weeks on the charts, with 43 of those weeks being in the top 10. The record uses a crystalline synth hook from the ‘80s to romanticize modern day heartbreak while offering a vintage escape. “Yummy” debuted at number two, even after Bieber pleaded with fans to stream the song until it got to number one. “Blinding Lights,” on the other hand, was used as the track for the newest Mercedes Benz campaign. Although the Grammys chooses to disregard album sales and chart position, “Blinding Lights” is still more inclusive of technical proficiency and artist achievement compared to “Yummy.”
In an interview with Billboard magazine, The Weeknd shared his take on the surprise: “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency.”
When asked if the lack of nominations could have been a race issue, The Weeknd acknowledged that, “ … in the last 61 years of the Grammys, only 10 Black artists have won album of the year.” He continued on to say, “I don’t want to make this about me. That’s just a fact.”
Seeing as though Black musicians have been the pioneers of countless genres, it is absurd to think they have only been awarded so few times compared to their peers in the industry. The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar are both Black artists while Justin Bieber and Macklemore are white. Bieber and Macklemore are talented musicians in their own right, but when compared to The Weeknd and Lamar in their respective categories it may be that there is more than just technical proficiency being considered.
There must be a non-biased and transparent movement set in place for The Academy going forward, or The Grammys could potentially lose their credibility and public interest over time. They cannot be considered credible if they deny an artist commemoration because of their background. Songs with great impact on society strengthen the sustainability of the art of music and should be taken into consideration during the voting process. The Grammys could consider incorporating a fan category or even broadening their criteria to include album sales and brand deals. The Grammys should also allow public knowledge of exactly who from The Academy votes on each category to offer transparency. The Weeknd closes his statement heroically stating that he is, “down to get in front of the fire, as long as (this) never happens again.”
The views expressed in the editorial and op-ed sections are not necessarily those of The USD Vista staff, the University of San Diego, or its student body.