On Sunday, April 3rd, The Grammys held its 64th annual ceremony in Las Vegas. The Grammys awarded many artists for their work, but I believe many of these awards were not given to the right artists.
In no means am I trying to diminish the effort these artists put into their work, but Grammy’s should be given based on the influence and quality of their music. I believe many people were robbed of their win and I’m sure there are many people who agree with me.
In the Pop Duo/Group Performance category, the five acts that were nominated were Kiss Me More by Doja Cat and SZA, I Get A Kick Out of You by Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, Lonely by Justin Beiber and Benny Blanco, Higher Power by Coldplay, and Butter by BTS. The winner in this category was Kiss Me More by Doja Cat and SZA.
Although Doja Cat and SZA are wonderful artists and make incredible music, I believe they did not deserve the award. Butter by BTS deserved the award in my opinion. Not only did BTS break many records with their release, but their performance was better.
The Grammys continuously made promotions of the ceremony and mentioned BTS in tons of them. Of course, it’s known that BTS is very popular, but continuously showing them in promotions, yet not giving them the award was unjustified. They simply wanted the viewers.
The same thing happened last year. BTS was nominated for best Pop Duo/Group Performance in 2021 as well. They lost to Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s song Rain On Me. The charts evidently showed that BTS deserved that win but the recording academy used them as they also put their performance last. This way they made sure they got views because they knew their fans would be watching for their performance.
Another reason why I believe the Grammys were rigged is when a white group, SOJA, won the Reggae Album category. All artists in the category, except for SOJA, are Black.
Even though they did thank the founding fathers of Reggae music, it still isn’t right that they won. Reggae music stems from black culture, so it would only be right for an artist with a black background to win in that category. To make matters worse, while accepting the award, they were culturally appropriating by wearing dreads. It’s just very disrespectful in my opinion.
The Grammys should give that award to an artist that truly deserves it. Many Jamaicans are angry at how this white group won over five Black artists, while some are saying it is justified.
This goes far more than simply not giving a deserving artist their award. Some of these do tie into racism, whether it is acknowledged or not. The Grammys have to acknowledge the flaws in their systems and realize why so many artists boycott their award ceremony.
Artists like Zayn Malik and The Weeknd criticize the Grammy’s system and claim that it is not inclusive of artists. Zayn has even tweeted that it is a “space that creates and allows favoritism, racism, and networking politics to influence the voting process.” The Weeknd is currently boycotting the Grammys and refuses to submit his work for nominations as he claims the award ceremony is “corrupt.”
The committee and ceremony experience tons of criticism, but they don’t seem to take the criticism and use it to better their system.
