The Weeknd, a well-known singer, songwriter, and producer has called out to the Grammys as them being corrupt, and that they owe him, his fans, and the industry some explanation and transparency.
The Grammy Award, or just Grammy, is an award presented by the Recording Academy to recognize achievements in the music industry. The trophy depicts a gilded gramophone.
The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists and the presentation of those awards that have a more popular interest.
Recording Academy chief Harvey Mason, jr. has responded, saying that he was surprised that The Weeknd, whose music has dominated 2020 with having his very own Tiktok dance and thousands of streams, did not receive any nominations.
The Weeknd was supposed to perform at the Grammys on January 31st, as well as the Super Bowl the next week after that.
Manson denied any negotiations around that matter, and that it had no role in The Weeknd’s absence in the nominations.
“Congratulations to today’s Grammy nominees, who have earned their peers’ recognition for their incredible work,” he wrote. “There were a record number of submissions in this unusual and competitive year.
“We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated,” he continues. “I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration. We were thrilled when we found out he would be performing at the upcoming Super Bowl and we would have loved to have him also perform on the Grammy stage the weekend before.
“Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists. But as the only peer-voted music award, we will continue to recognize and celebrate excellence in music while shining a light on the many amazing artists that make up our global community. To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd’s performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have affected the nomination process.
“All Grammy nominees are recognized by the voting body for their excellence,” he concludes, “and we congratulate them all.”
Despite Mason’s claims, it is in fact odd that the artist that we hear about every time and see almost everywhere we go, obviously loved by fans from so many groups, the 20 members from the nominating committee did not feel like any of his albums or songs are worth the categories available.
Grammy nominations take place where the committees that include veteran music professionals that make their decisions by a hand down from the screening committee, that has considered a large number of submissions.
Mason, even though he had no part in controlling the process, spoke briefly about the steps.
“I don’t think [the Weeknd’s omission calls the nominations] process into question, honestly,” he said. “The process is there so we can continue to monitor excellence. I was in the ‘core room’ this year [which decides the main categories] and I observed, and the people in it are music professionals, at the top of their craft in songwriting and producing and there are a lot of artists.
And they were critically listening to every song that came across their desks — or virtual desks — so I don’t think it shows a flaw in the process. It’s a long, arduous process and people take pride in it. The people in that room care: there are no agendas in there, there’s no ‘let’s snub this person’ or that person. It’s about, ‘Let’s try and find excellence.’”
There has also been confusion as to what genre The Weeknd actually falls on, and that became one of the what-ifs of him not getting nominated.
Since the Grammys have specific genres and categories, like Pop and R&B, the Pop committee has probably considered The Weeknd to be in the R&B genre, while the R&B, Pop.
The Weeknd has yet to give an official statement for his out lash.
Source: Variety
