At first, I was of two minds about writing about this topic, but then it hit me! This needs to be addressed because it happens far too much!
Let me began my stating that I have the utmost respect and love for Adele, for her career, for 25, for “Hello” and for her incomparable talent. She is a force to be reckoned with every time she performs and every few years that she decides to grace the world with a new album.
That being said, here’s what I have a huge issue with; the refusal to diversify the winners from the usual norm of who The Recording Academy believes should win. The blatant disregard and disrespect of talent by The Recording Academy is absolutely absurd.
While watching the 59th Annual Grammy Awards last Sunday, I must admit that I sadly was not surprised at the outcome. But let’s backtrack just for one minute, here are the artists I would like to consider and the amount of awards they left with.
Adele: 5 Nominations Left With: 5 Awards
Beyoncé: 9 Nominations Left With: 2 Awards
Rihanna: 8 Nominations Left With: 0 Awards
Do you catch my drift?
I did some research because I just HAD to know who The Recording Academy consisted of and how the winners were decided.
Unfortunately, during my research, I didn’t come across the exact makeup of The Recording Academy because it was conveniently not released. However, I did find information on the process of the final decision making, which is listed below.
“The Academy’s voting members, all involved in the creative and technical processes of recording, then participate in (1) the nominating process that determines the five finalists in each category; and (2) the final voting process which determines the GRAMMY winners.”
By the end of the night, the hashtag on Twitter was #GrammySoWhite. I will be painfully honest and indiscreet and admit that I do not disagree with such accusations.
Here are some reasons why, (and these are just simple facts that can be found on Google) :
- In the 59 years of the Grammys, there have been only twelve black winners for the Album of the Year category and three of those wins were by Stevie Wonder.
- The last black artist to win Album of the Year was Herbie Hancock in 2008.
- Only three black women have won the Album of the Year category.
- The last black female artist to win Album of the Year was Lauryn Hill in 1999.
It is evident that black artists, specifically black female artists, have constantly encountered obstacles in winning the Album of the Year category. This year in particular speaks to that sentiment perfectly because two greats of music, Adele and Beyoncé were pit against each other for the most coveted category. The latter lost and is currently 0-3 in this category while Adele is 2-2 in the category.
Personally, the loss of “Lemonade” as Album of the Year hurt the most because of what it stood for. This album was a work of art in every sense of the word; it consisted of mind blowing visual art, striking lyrics and a pure and fierce representation of true pride as an African American woman. It was heartbreaking to see Beyoncé only receive credit for Best Urban Contemporary Album. This album was not addressed to an “urban” audience, it was addressed to the world as a true form of pride displayed through musical genius.
As a quick side note, Adele took home both Song of the Year and Record of the Year for her hit, “Hello” leaving Beyoncé’s hit “Formation” with Best Music Video. Let’s be real for a second, “Formation” was just as monumental as “Lemonade” and for it to not be recognized as such is extremely disappointing. It should not have been an issue for each song to be recognized.
There were a few arguments as to why Adele’s “25” took the win over Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” and I have a response for each of them.
- Beyoncé has “too many awards and is overrated and over recognized.”
My Response- Just to be clear, Beyoncé has twenty two Grammy Awards in a two decade career while Adele has fifteen Grammy Awards in an eleven year career, so please come again.
- “25” was the highest selling album of 2016, while “Lemonade” was the third highest.
My Response- This may be the best argument thus far. It’s entirely possible that sales translated to votes, but even if so, one album was groundbreaking while the other, though phenomenal, pales in comparison. “25” was undoubtedly a beautiful work of art by Adele but it was consistent Adele. “Lemonade” was a HUGE step-up for Beyoncé.
Adele even said it herself while accepting the award, “And this album to me, the “Lemonade” album, is just so monumental. Beyoncé, it’s so monumental. And so well thought out, and so beautiful and soul-baring and we all got to see another side to you that you don’t always let us see.” Nuff’ said Adele.
- “Lemonade” was too “politically charged, provocative and controversial because of its racial representation and themes.”
My Response- First off, this is absolute nonsense! So what if Beyoncé is proud of being an African American woman?! Why should that be an issue and why can’t she express that in her craft? What is wrong with the truth? Why are people acting like they are now discovering that she was black?! The Recording Academy is basically saying to Beyoncé, “If you are too proud of your heritage, culture and family, sorry we will not reward you for that. Even if it was a monumental album.” This makes absolutely no sense!
The President of The Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, addressed accusations of racism within the Grammys with a statement that I find extremely interesting, upsetting and confounding.
He said, “No, I don’t think there’s a race problem at all. Remember, this is a peer-voted award… it’s the 14,000 members of the Academy… It’s always hard to create objectivity out of something that’s inherently subjective, which is what art and music is about… We don’t, as musicians, in my humble opinion, listen to music based on gender or race or ethnicity.”
My Thoughts- It seems to me that he along with The Recording Academy does not live up to this statement. The aforementioned Album of the Year facts proves that they DO “listen to music based on gender or race or ethnicity.” If they didn’t then we wouldn’t be having this discussion. I also would like to know who this “peer-vote” consists of. If it is “hard” for them to create an objective opinion on an artist’s subjective art, then why are they voting at all? If they were offended, uncomfortable, or just plain angry at some of the artists, then take yourself out of the situation, don’t just vote for a default winner.
He also said, “When you go to vote on a piece of music—at least the way that I approach it—is you almost put a blindfold on and you listen… And that is going to be very subjective. That’s what we ask our members to do, even in the ballots. We ask that they not pay attention to sales and marketing and popularity and charts. You have to listen to the music.”
My Thoughts- Wow, just wow! If listening to these songs and albums for winners are supposedly a blind process, how do feelings come into play? That is questionable. If they do “not pay attention to sales” then the aforementioned argument of “25” selling more than “Lemonade” is automatically thrown out. As he says, “You have to listen to the music.” I ask, Did you listen and The Recording Academy listen or in this album’s case listen and watch?! Apparently not!
Lastly, Mr. Portnow said, the Recording Academy is “always working on increase diversity in membership, whether it’s ethnicity, gender, genre, or age…You don’t get Chance the Rapper as the Best New Artist of the year if you have a membership that isn’t diverse and isn’t open-minded and isn’t really listening to the music, and not really considering other elements beyond how great the music is.”
My Thoughts- Ohh please. ONE diverse artist winning in ONE category does not begin to symbolize diversity in membership. You shouldn’t have to claim or defend being “open-minded.” Just do it!
As an avid lover, watcher and enjoyer of music award ceremonies, I am passionate about the need for change. This year’s Grammy’s may have been the final straw.
The Recording Academy has a lot of work to do! When it will be done is the million dollar question.
Until then, here are two suggestions. One less subtle and possibly more helpful than the other.
Support Your Own Award Shows or as Solange Knowles tweeted,”Create your own committees, build your own institutions, give your friends awards, award yourself, and be the gold you wanna hold my g’s.”
Boycott the Grammys-Some black artists such as Frank Ocean and Kanye West didn’t attend the Grammys. Who knows if this will spur action from other artists in the future?
I will conclude here because I know I may have already bored some people.
Peace,
Kayla N.
The Junction Journal 