The Recording Academy has responded after The Weeknd called The Grammys system “corrupt” following the announcement of the 2021 nominees yesterday.
“We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathise with what he’s feeling,” the academy’s chair and interim president/CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
“His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration.”
The Weeknd was one of many huge artists who did not receive a nomination yesterday and seriously, what the hell is going on down there?
Following the announcement of the noms, The Weeknd took to his social media pages to call out the award ceremony.
“The Grammys remain corrupt,” he wrote. “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”
The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…
— Abel Tesfaye (@theweeknd) November 25, 2020
Us Weekly reports that After Hours, the most recent album The Weeknd churned out, received the best reviews of his career and went nuts on the streaming services. Its second single ‘Blinding Lights’ became the biggest hit by The Weeknd, spending four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. And yet he didn’t score a single nomination? Seems wack to me.
Justin Bieber also called out The Grammys for failing to recognise him for his most recent album.
“To the Grammys,” he wrote. “I am flattered to be acknowledged and appreciated for my artistry. I am very meticulous and intentional about my music. With that being said, I set out to make an R&B album. Changes was and is an R&B album. It is not being acknowledged as an R&B album, which is very strange to me. I grew up admiring R&B music and wished to make a project that would embody that sound. For this not to be put into that category feels weird, considering from the chords to the melodies to the vocal style, all the way down to the hip-hop drums that were chosen, it is undeniably, unmistakably an R&B album!”
“To be clear,” he concluded, “I absolutely love Pop music, it was just wasn’t what I set out to make this time around. My gratitude for feeling respected for my work remains and I am honoured to be nominated either way.”
He added in a comment, “Please don’t mistake this as me being ungrateful, these are just my thoughts take em or leave em. Thank you to the people who fought for me to even have any noms.”
Peep all the other BS snubs here.
