A cloud hangs over the Grammy weekend for its history of ignoring black artists

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Dear Gossips,

The Grammy will take place on Sunday and I am excited about the show itself, about how they are going to do it, or not. Throughout the promotion that preceded the event, the program producers endeavored to make it clear that they planned that it was NOT a virtual event – nothing is happening at Zoom and the presentations will be live or live. -to record. As executive producer Ben Winston told The Hollywood Reporter, they are “going there”, giving a big boost, so on the production side, I’m curious to see how they carry out their ambition.

Despite their best efforts, however, with two days to go to the show, the show itself is not the dominant Grammy conversation. Like the Golden Globes a few weeks ago, the integrity of the awards themselves is being questioned. Earlier this week, Zayn Malik tweeted this:

This is not much different from what the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was being accused of with respect to the Globes. And yesterday was The Weeknd stating that, “Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to send my music to the Grammy.”

This statement is part of a New York Times article that breaks down the Grammy controversy, its secret committees and how, over the past two decades, the awards seem to have altered black artists and kept them out of the main categories: Album of the Year, Song of the Year year and Record of the year. Traditionally, the last Grammy of the night and therefore considered its most prestigious award, is Album of the Year. No black artist has won the album of the year since Herbie Hancock in 2008. When you think about the influence that black creatives have had on the industry music and the black musicians (Beyoncé, Drake, Rihanna, Kanye West, Frank Ocean and the list goes on) that have shaped the culture since 2008, many of whom the Grammys depended on to generate interest in their brand, the gap is undeniable. But that is also why Beyoncé has increasingly been driven by cultural currency rather than the established status quo markers of success. Beyoncé leads the field, by the way, with the most nominations this year and is the most nominated female artist in Grammy history. But you will notice that she never won the Album of the Year and her only victory in an important category is Song of the Year for “Single Women” and that was in 2010, before what is widely considered to be her most creatively innovative decade. saw the release of albums 4, Beyonce (her self-titled album that literally CHANGED THE F-CKING GAME, when she dropped it, without warning and without publicity, basically in the middle of the night and totally upset the entire industry), and Lemonade.

This, then, is the cloud hovering over the recording academy as we head for the Grammy weekend and “the biggest night in music”. Which, in addition to the artists who were forgotten, is also unfair to the artists who will win on Sunday. As The Weeknd manager Wassim Slaiby told the NYT:

“The Grammy must take care of its legacy and clean it up to raise the bar to a level where everyone can be proud of having this award.”

So, who’s really winning this weekend? I read several pieces of prediction and now people seem to be divided between Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift in the main categories. Vulture thinks it could be a big acquisition for Dua Lipa. Get ready for all kinds of debate on Sunday night and Monday. At least until the Oscar nominations come out on Monday morning, when it will be the speech. Do you know who will be happier with this? The British royal family. They need people to focus on everything but their mess.

To go back to the predictions … we are doing some on our own. The post with Sarah’s Oscar nomination predictions will arrive soon!

Yours in the gossip,

Lainey

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