Industry Insight: Everything Wrong With The Grammys
From Beyoncé to Tyler, the Creator to SZA...what gives?
"We love y'all. We want y'all to get it right," he said. "I don't want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than anyone and never won album of the year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn't work." - Jay Z, 2024
Jay-Z Got it Right
This week, we are diving into all things wrong with the GRAMMYs. At the show this year, Jay-Z delivered a long, pointed speech for his acceptance of the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. The speech silenced the room in an uncomfortable way, largely because of its pertinent, and often unspoken points. He took advantage of the public platform to highlight the long disputed controversies surrounding the validity and equity of the awards. As Beyonce’s husband and a black musician himself, he has a personal connection to the discourse. The question that still lingers after 66 years of the awards show is: why are black artists repeatedly overlooked in the major categories at the GRAMMYs? The answer is complex and brings light to a number of issues within the Recording Academy itself, the seemingly arbitrary categorization system utilized by the GRAMMYs, and the systemic racism of the music industry. We should not have to wait for a speech like Jay-Z’s to prompt necessary conversations about the matter, so let’s dig into it today.
The Illusion of Inclusivity
At first glance, the Grammy Awards appear to be a celebration of diversity and inclusivity, with 94 categories spanning various genres and styles. However, a closer examination reveals a different reality. Despite the wealth of talent coming from black musicians each year, black artists continue to be underrepresented in the general categories. The biggest award of the night is Album of the Year, and this award has only gone to a black artist eleven times. Of those eleven, only three are women: Natalie Cole, Whitney Houston, and Lauryn Hill. This disparity becomes even more apparent when you consider the immense cultural impact and critical acclaim of albums released by black artists in recent years.
The best example of this is Beyoncé. She has received the most nominations in GRAMMY history but has yet to take home Album of the Year. Her album Renaissance lost at the 2023 GRAMMYs to Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, which caused significant discourse. Moreover, in 2017 she failed to take home the award for her groundbreaking visual album, Lemonade, which explored themes of race, feminism, and empowerment. Despite receiving widespread acclaim and dominating the cultural conversation upon its release, Lemonade lost to Adele's 25. The snub sparked outrage among fans and critics alike, who saw it as yet another example of the Grammys' failure to recognize the artistic achievements of black artists. These are only two of the five times that Beyoncé has been nominated for the award without winning. These examples embody a much deeper-rooted issue in the structure of the GRAMMYs and the music industry itself.
Like Beyoncé, Tyler, the Creator has publicly called out the GRAMMYs for their incorrect categorization and failure to recognize black artists in major categories. His album, IGOR, is a masterpiece that pushed the boundaries of hip-hop and R&B and was cataloged as a Hip-Hop/Pop album. In 2020, it was awarded Best Rap Album, but failed to secure a nomination for Album of the Year. Tyler himself was offended by the misguided award, and ultimately boycotted the GRAMMYs after his speech:
“It sucks that whenever we, and I mean guys that look like me, do anything that’s genre-bending or that’s anything, they always put it in a rap or urban category, and I don’t like that urban word. It’s just a politically correct way to say the N-word to me…. Half of me feels like the rap nomination was a backhanded compliment.” - Tyler, the Creator, 2020
This oversight also drew criticism from so many who felt that IGOR altered the landscape of music and permeated culture in a way that deserved much more prominent recognition. Moreover, R&B and hip-hop are the most streamed genres in the United States, yet albums from these genres are rarely nominated for the general, “popular” categories. So, then, the question remains: what earns an album a spot in the general categories if it is not the most popular music or the most highly acclaimed?
The Problem With Pigeonholing
We can see that one of the glaring and recurring issues with the Grammys is their tendency to pigeonhole black artists into genre-specific categories, effectively marginalizing them from competing in the major general categories. While there are genre-specific awards such as Best Rap Album and Best R&B Album, these categories are often viewed as consolation prizes for those who were not nominated for the highest honors. Even though the gramophone trophy looks the same for every award, there are distinct differences in the weight of the acknowledgments. These awards matter. They create a paper trail for people to look back on and study what we perceived to be important or deemed, “the best,” music of the time. If we are not amplifying black voices in these awards shows, we are falsely representing the consensus of society. Black artists are making some of the most prolific music available, but this is not represented in their accolades.
This year’s largest snub was for SZA’s album, SOS. It was on the top of the Billboard charts for longer than any of the other nominees, yet she lost to Taylor Swift’s Midnights. This is yet another example of the disparity between public opinion and the results of the GRAMMYs. It has now been 25 years since a black woman took home Album of the Year. SOS instead won the award for Best Progressive R&B Album, another instance of pigeonholing. This oversight once again highlights the Recording Academy’s failure to recognize the artistic complexity and cultural significance of black artists' work, instead relegating them to the sidelines of mainstream recognition. All of this is not to say that the winners of these awards are not extremely talented and popular artists as well. The issue is that if the voting system were fair, the awards would reflect the opinion of the general public. The fact that the voting and categorization process is unfair is not even a subjective opinion, simply a reflection of numerical data. Artists making music in the style of the most popular genre in the country should receive far more awards than they presently do.
As an aspiring professional in the music industry, the present state of music is alarming. There is still so much work to be done to create an equitable and positive environment that uplifts and amplifies talented artists. I feel hopeful that we will get there eventually, as we have begun to make positive strides, but we are not there yet. To the general public, the results of the GRAMMYs reflect what music we should care about each year. The Recording Academy has a lot of power in this regard, and that cannot be taken lightly. To address the systemic issues plaguing the GRAMMYs, structural changes must be implemented to ensure fair and equitable representation for all artists. Additionally, the Recording Academy must confront its own biases and prejudices that have historically favored white artists. The GRAMMYs must broaden their understanding of what constitutes a deserving nominee or winner. This entails recognizing the general cultural significance of albums from black artists and acknowledging the profound impact they have had on both music and society at large, rather than confining their work into arbitrary subdivisions. Necessary changes include: diversifying the voting body to accurately reflect the demographics of the music industry and expanding the criteria used to evaluate artistic merit. Maybe that consists of simply adding new categories or it merits a full restructure of the system. What comes next is an ongoing conversation that I want to start here.
What’s Next?
I write this post for you all today while listening to a leak of the new Beyoncé album, Cowboy Carter, which releases tomorrow. I can safely say that this album is one of the most impressive and important collections of music that I have ever heard. From start to finish, it is an embodiment of Beyoncé’s artistry, influence on the cultural zeitgeist, and pure undeniable talent. When the GRAMMYs roll around next year, will Cowboy Carter win Album of the Year? Unfortunately, that fate lies in the hands of the Recording Academy. Beyoncé says it best herself in her song “Spaghettii”:
“Genres are a funny little concept, aren't they? In theory, they have a simple definition that's easy to understand, but in practice, well, some may feel confined” - Beyoncé, “Spaghettii,” 2024
As we have seen time and time again, the Recording Academy confines black artists’ music into boxes that they do not fit in. Beyoncé has created a genre-defying piece that deserves recognition in the general categories, but will she finally receive the award that she deserves or will she be snubbed for a sixth time? I am sadly not placing any bets on the Recording Academy getting it right quite yet.
Part 2: Genre
I chose to write this piece in the format of a blog post. The primary reasons I chose this genre were my intended audience, tone, and the relevancy of the topic. I have always dreamed of running a music blog because I personally love reading them. Blogs craete online communities that encourage and promote discussion and sharing. Music is an extremely powerful connective force. There is a reason why all streaming services double as social media platforms, people love to connect with like-minded people over common interests. On the other hand, people also love to engage in debates about art and its merits. Music-centric publications tend to be more colloquial and subjective, allowing room for discourse in the comment section or follow-up articles because you cannot say anything objective about the quality of art, just about how ut makes you feel. A blog is the perfect medium for a piece on music, because it allows strangers to converse about common interests and issues that they are passionate about. Moreover, blog posts tend to contain a blend of opinions and light research. They carry a clear sentiment without asserting anything as fact. The authors of blogs do not need to be highly-researched scholars by any means, anyone can start a blog. The subject of injustices at the GRAMMYs is a topic that I know a lot about through personal and professional experiences, but I do not have all of the answers by any means. I wanted to choose a genre that allowed for an open-ended conversation. What categories should the GRAMMYs use? How much change needs to occur in the voting body of the Recording Academy? Are the GRAMMYs exacerbating the issue of systemic racism within the industry itself? Why are these patterns occurring every year? These are all questions posed in my writing that I have opinions on, but cannot answer definitely. These are the conversations that I would hope to prompt with my blog.
My intended audience for this piece was music fans in general, essentially anyone passionate enough about music to read a blog about it, because the purpose of the piece is to prompt conversations. I wrote the piece while envisioning a lively comment section where people may feel inspired to enter into the discourse. Personally, I oftentimes find the comment sections of music blogs to be even more illuminating than the blog itself, so I do feel that the piece is almost missing a layer of context without the audience weighing in. This being said, I think that I effectively left the piece open for interpretation and commentary, while still highlighting key facts and imbuing my own opinion.
My goal with this blog post was to inform, inspire, and question. Because the subject matter is so important and complex, I also chose this genre for its colloquial language and accessible writing style. The freedom to use media, block quotes, and to hyperlink supplemental reading makes the message extremely accessible and interesting. I formatted it like an online blog with big headers, media, block quotes, and easily digestible paragraphs that would allow casual readers to skim and still glean the highlights of the message. Blogs also tend to be a sort of diary about whatever topic the author chooses, so the entries are relevant and current. I have been ruminating on this year’s GRAMMYs for the past couple of months and continue to enter conversations about the awards. The topic is extremely relevant to me, as an employee in the music industry, but also as a fan. When deciding what to discuss for WP3 and how to say it, this topic was at the front of my mind because of its importance and recency. I appreciate this genre because it felt like a slightly more formal and permanent way to capture the conversations that I am actively engaging in.
While I stand by my decision to format this paper as a blog post, the one difficulty that I experienced was including enough opinion-based commentary to be reflective of the genre. I struggled with this because I felt that it was important to highlight specific stories and make note of the data surrounding the matter, but at times this made the section feel more like a Billboard article than a blog post. I think that I could have leaned into the article genre more and still successfully written the piece, but I did not want to be completely detached from the matter. I think that if I were to rewrite this, I would have made my voice stronger by including more anecdotal elements. As it stands, the paper straddles the line between a blog and an article, and I would enjoy it more if it clearly read as a blog post. When it comes to music blogs and professional music publications, though, I do think that the lines are blurry. The piece would not have been interesting if it was only reflective of my opinions and did not highlight a tangible issue backed by evidence. I will need to do more research and experimentation with the genre before I find my voice, but I enjoyed this first attempt.