#GrammysSoRight: Less Exclusion, More Inclusion

By Ashley Logan on January 30, 2018

#GrammysSoRight

During the 2017 Grammy Awards Show, Twitter feeds flooded with the hashtag #GrammysSoWhite. It’s not unusual for Twitter users to become outraged at the littlest things, however, the 2017 Grammy Awards snubbed many artists of color in favor of the white entertainers.

Most of this outrage stemmed from Adele winning ”Album of the Year” over Beyonce’s “Lemonade” visual album. The “Lemonade” album was pivotal for women as it discussed the hardships of love and forgiveness. The Academy’s president cleared the air in 2017 after the #GrammysSoWhite hashtag became a viral entity. In an interview with Neil Portnow for Pitchfork, the Academy President dispelled the notion that the Grammy Awards has a race problem due to the 14,000 members of the Academy that help in the voting process. 

Bruno Mars (via Wikimedia Commons)

In spite of the #GrammysSoWhite spectacle in 2017, the 2018 Grammy nominations took a different approach than the normal whitewashing of awards shows. This year’s Grammy nominations featured the first ever “Album of the Year” ballot without any white men on the list. This monumental occasion was just one of the many spotlights shone on people of color this year.

Both of the top nominees were African-American, with rapper and businessman Jay-Z leading the ballot with eight nominations total. Singer and songwriter SZA led the female ballot with six nominations of her own. For the first time in Grammy history, there were no white male artists nominated for “Record of the Year.” This may not seem like the biggest deal to some but the diverse representation of musical artists in an inspiration to many viewers.

A-List of Snubs

 In the article What Should Have Won by musical columnist Chris Richards, Richards discusses the history of the Grammy Awards winners over the past 38 years and the artists that have been robbed of their deserved awards. Some of Richards’ notable examples include:

  • Adele’s “21″ winning over Kanye West’s “My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy”
  • Mumford and Son’s “Babel” winning over Frank Ocean’s “Channel Orange” in 2013
  • Beck’s album “Morning Phase” winning over Beyoncè’s “Beyoncè” visual album in 2015
  • Taylor Swift’s “1989″ winning over Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly”

Of course, it’s not all about who wins and who loses, the problem is about representation and fair practice. There may not be malevolent intentions regarding the praise of notable white entertainers however this does not represent an accurate image of the entertainment world we have today.

Just like race in the United States, everything is not just black and white. There is a spectrum of races and ethnicities that deserve much more credit than often given. The Grammy Awards is not the only program guilty of this, the Oscars started the #SoWhite trend when their own nominees were announced. 2018 proves to be a year for improvement.

In Frank Ocean’s famed Tumblr post from 2017, he calls out the Grammy Awards for their snubs, degradation and ideas of credibility. Here are a few quotes from Ocean’s think piece:

WINNING A TV AWARD DOESN’T CHRISTEN ME SUCCESSFUL… I AM YOUNG, BLACK, GIFTED AND INDEPENDENT… THAT’S MY TRIBUTE.”

“I’VE ACTUALLY BEEN TUNING INTO CBS AROUND THIS TIME OF YEAR FOR A WHILE TO SEE WHO GETS THE TOP HONOR AND YOU KNOW WHAT’S REALLY NOT ‘GREAT TV’ GUYS? ’1989′ GETTING ALBUM OF THE YEAR OVER ‘TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY.’ HANDS DOWN ONE OF THE MOST ‘FAULTY’ TV MOMENTS I’VE SEEN.”

It’s safe to say that the Academy jotted down a few notes from Frank Ocean’s think piece if you look at this year’s Grammy nominations below.

Alessia Cara (via Wikimedia Commons)

General Field Nominees:

Record of the Year

  1. Redbone  – Childish Gambino
  2. Despacito – Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber
  3. The Story Of O.J. — JAY-Z
  4. HUMBLE – Kendrick Lamar
  5.  24K Magic  – Bruno Mars (Winner)

Album of the Year

  1. “Awaken, My Love” – Childish Gambino
  2. “4:44″ — JAY-Z
  3. “DAMN” — Kendrick Lamar
  4. “Melodrama” — Lorde
  5. “24K Magic” — Bruno Mars (Winner)

Song of the Year

  1. “Despacito” – Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber
  2. “4:44″ — Shawn Carter (Jay-Z) & Dion Wilson
  3. “Issues” — Julia Michaels
  4. “1-800-273-8225″ — Logic, Alessia Cara & Khalid
  5. “That’s What I Like” — Bruno Mars (Winner)
Best New Artist
  1. Alessia Cara (Winner)
  2. Khalid
  3. Lil Uzi Vert
  4. Julia Michaels
  5. SZA
See the rest of the nominees as well as the winners here: GRAMMY
It’s safe to say that Bruno Mars swept the Grammy’s this year winning six awards total. Mars won for Best R&B Album, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Best R&B Song, and Best R&B Performance. Congratulations to Bruno Mars and all of those who won and were nominated at the 2018 Grammy Awards. It is imperative that all artists are considered and recognized for their talents and achievements. But like Frank Ocean said, these award shows do not validate those artists’ careers but simply give recognition to the many aspects of music.

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