The Fall of Music’s Biggest Award Show
Graphic designed by Ande E Wittenmeier
It’s time to sit down and face the facts. The Grammys suck… like a lot. We get it, there’s something almost mystifying about seeing all of the world's biggest artists in the same place. I mean how often are BTS, Brandi Carlile, and Fivio Foreign all going to be in the same room? However, once the show begins the Grammys never seem to disappoint in showing us how truly out of touch they are.
The Grammys have undergone accusations of racism, misogyny, ageism, and sheer old-white-guy-ism for years. As more and more artists and listeners have continued to voice their displeasure with the Grammys, the Recording Academy has attempted to diversify its boardroom as well as its bread and butter, The Grammy Awards. Yet somehow even when the Recording Academy is seemingly “trying” to get things right they always end up looking like our grandparents trying to use an iPhone.
In 2019 the Recording Academy appointed its first female Chief Executive, Deborah Dugan. Within just two years Dugan spotted numerous problems within the Academy which included voting and nomination issues as well as conflicts of interest. After detailing her issues within the Academy, Dugan was put on leave and then fired for allegedly “bullying” her assistant. Shortly afterward Dugan filed a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Commission and settled with the Academy for an undisclosed amount of money.
Once again, the Grammys seemed as if they had done something right this year. The most recent show handed out the Grammy for album of the year to a black artist for the first time in 14 years. The winner? Jon Batiste and his album “We Are”. As amazing as it is that Batiste was able to secure the Academy’s biggest award as both a black and relatively “small” artist, it is impossible to ignore the fact that Batiste’s Jazz/Motown sound is significantly different from the Hip-hop and R&B space that some of the biggest black artists have dominated for the last 15-20 years. The Grammys have continuously and blatantly neglected black artists from Hip-hop and R&B throughout the years. Beyonce’s Lemonade, Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III, Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange, and Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (which notably didn’t even win rap album of the year after losing out to Macklemore) all failed to bring home album of the year.
The Grammy's negligence and lack of acknowledgment towards many of the biggest artists in the world have left the award show in a difficult place. Tyler, the Creator who won rap album of the year gave his acceptance speech on Instagram live instead of at the show, a move that comes after he spoke on The Academy’s treatment of black artists last time won a Grammy back in 2020. The Weeknd also notably decided that he would no longer submit his music to the Academy in order to be eligible for awards. Fellow Canadian, Drake has also voiced his displeasure with the awards, writing on Instagram in 2020 “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”. Oh and for all you Ye fans (or haters) if you were wondering what the 24-time winner thinks of the Grammys, there’s this now infamous tweet of him peeing on one of his awards.
Corruption, misogyny, and racism aside, the very concept of the Grammys is an antiquated idea. We’re sure that back in the day when there were just 8 radio stations and everyone listened to the same 10 albums, a show that ranked music was a welcome sight. Most people all had an idea of who the best and/or the most popular musicians were, and there were only a couple of recognized mainstream genres. Now anyone with a music streaming account has access to a virtually endless supply of songs, artists, albums, and genres. The proposition of anyone choosing the “best” music is an impossible task. There’s no reason to tune into the Grammys when everyone gets their own personalized version with Spotify Wrapped. With all the music in the world, it’s unreasonable that we should value or expect a group of people (specifically those in the recording academy) to be able to accurately choose the “best of it”.