It feels like every year the Grammy’s become more and more distant from hip-hop culture. Artists who don’t deserve an award and have done little to impact the culture have become recipients of Grammys, while those who deserve them are kicked to the side and hung out to dry.
After last year’s Grammy’s, the show’s producer Ken Ehrlich blamed the loss of cultural relevance on a lack of diversity in hip-hop. However, this is blatantly untrue and comes across as ignorant more than anything else.
Hip-hop is currently more diverse than ever, you just have to search for those pushing boundaries. Artists like Lupe Fiasco, Boogie, Tech N9ne, Westside Gunn, Marlon Craft, Denzel Curry, Russ, Tsu Surf, Earl Sweatshirt, Wale, (and the list goes on) have repeatedly taken steps to set themselves apart from their peers. Their stellar performance on tracks throughout the recent years – and their careers – have helped solidify them, at least in my book, as some of rap’s most elite, versatile figures.
In 2019, Boogie, ScHoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, Wale, SAINt JHN, and Benny the Butcher all released incredible projects, but lost the 2020 rap album of the year award to Tyler, the Creator – who created an album he himself said is not rap. In fact, none of the aforementioned artists were even recognized or nominated for their accomplishments in the past year.
Tyler, the Creator winning the award for best rap album of the year says more about the Grammy’s than I could in a blog post. After winning his award, he made an acceptance speech denouncing his win, saying it felt like a back-handed compliment. He also criticized the Grammy’s “urban” category, claiming “it’s just a politically correct way to say the n-word” (and he’s not wrong). Tyler’s main issue with the Grammy’s was the fact he was placed in a rap category because of the color of his skin and not the genre of music he made.
So why did Tyler’s experimental album end up in the ‘rap’ category? Simple – because the Grammy’s voting board is completely out of touch and removed from the hip-hop world. Anyone who graduates a music school, has a major or minor in a music related field, and plans to work in the music industry can be a part of the Grammy’s voting board. As you might think, this could be problematic.
In addition to anyone with a job in the music industry being granted a spot on the Grammy board, former artists who have won and been nominated are also given the chance to vote for Grammy winners. The only problem is these artists and members of the Grammy board must vote in all 84 distinct award categories. It’s likely Tyler, the Creator won the vote for best rap album because enough members simply weren’t well-versed in hip-hop, but were forced to vote anyway.
Adding to the chaos of a defective voting system, drama overshadowed this year’s Grammys after the Recording Academy’s president, Deborah Dugan, was put on administrative leave a mere 10 days before the show. Dugan was suspended following an email she sent to the Academy’s HR department that contained numerous complaints of sexual harassment, voting irregularities, a rape allegation against the former president, and sexism within the Academy. These complaints were swept under the rug by the Academy, until Dugan’s legal team uncovered them.
It’s also important to note, Dugan got the job in August 2019 after former president Neil Portnow resigned in the wake of controversial comments made regarding the Academy’s voting board lacking female representation (between 2015 and 2017, the review committee was 74% male).
I think some serious changes need to be made within the Recording Academy. More female representation is necessary along with stricter voting rules, as it’s clear the current ones are flawed and outdated. I think an experienced label executive could be fit for role as president, but then again who knows if the issues that stem are much deeper than that. The allegations the Academy has disregarded are alarming to say the least, and should raise red flags within the Academy building. This is more than just another example of big wig executives taking advantage and profiting off of the culture.
I understand music is difficult to judge because it’s entirely based on opinion, but aside from the sexual assault and rape allegations – at least have the decency to give rap album of the year to an actual rap album.
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