Mixed reactions pour in from the audiences as the 63rd Grammy awards premiered last week
Image credit: Gulf news https://gulfnews.com/photos/entertainment/grammys-2021-winners-in-the-top-categories-at-musics-biggest-night-1.1615787658977?slide=1
California, US: The 63rd annual Grammy awards presented by the recording academy took place at the STAPLES center, LA on Sunday 14th March’21. The award function was carried out under proper COVID-19 SOPS’s in place and showcased some of the biggest musical talents on the charts. The Grammys are regarded as the highest award in music and thus had many artists and fans alike looking forward to the recognition and performances of the nominated talents.
However, over these recent years, this institution has come under a fair amount of scrutiny and criticism as audiences accuse the recording academy of racism when it comes to recognizing well-deserving POC artists with many artists of color calling out the institution on this matter. Ahead of this year’s Grammys artists such as The Weeknd and Zayn Malik voiced their objections in the nomination procedure by calling out the recording academy for being biased towards white artists and recognizing those that “shake hands and send gifts”
As the nominations were announced on November 24th, The Weeknd took to Twitter to demand transparency from the recording academy.
However, the main controversy surrounding this year’s Grammy awards revolved around the South-Korean pop boyband BTS’s nomination and performance at the award show. The septet, who have been topping all major charts and securing many laurels to their name making them the biggest boyband in the world today were looking forward alongside their fan-base called Army to a Grammy nomination for a long time now and with their album BE released this year during the pandemic, they’ve secured a nomination for their record-breaking song Dynamite in the category for Best Pop Duo/ Group Performance making the band the first South-Korean artists ever to receive a Grammy nomination.
While this was an incredibly monumental announcement for the band and their fans alike, it was later revealed that this category has been moved to the premier ceremony instead of its usual place in the main show. This sudden change left fans questioning the recording academy’s fairness and transparency with many accusing the institution of still observing its racist patterns. Furthermore, as BTS lost the award to Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga’s Rain on me, fans were quick to express their outrage and claimed that the function used the band and their performance as nothing more than a mere marketing strategy to secure ratings for a show that has had an incredibly declining viewership over the past few years.
The hashtags #Scammys as well as #lightitupbts, were trending as people from all over the world voiced their objections to the Grammy Awards claiming that the institution used BTS at the forefront of every announcement as rating bait.
Team Ajab Afsanay reached out to the students of Habib university to share their opinions on the controversy surrounding the Grammy Awards and their attitude towards artists of color.
1)What were your overall reactions to the Grammys this year? Do you think the winners' announcements were fair?
“I was extremely disappointed with this year’s Grammy awards. I didn’t expect much because through the years, the Grammys have become a platform of corruption and white bigotry, so, in my eyes, not considered to be the most important stage for music anymore. So I don’t think It was fair from the onset. With the announcement for the nominations, for example, the way The Weeknd wasn’t nominated at all despite his very obvious billboard success of Blinding Lights. In the past, Nicki Minaj wasn’t given the recognition she deserved even though 6 of her songs were on the Billboard charts for months. So as a conclusion, they were never fair but it’s coming to light now.”
-Sabika Noor
“I was quite unhappy. the fact that they limited a lot of POC categories to the pre-show and reserved the main categories (where mostly white artists won) for the actual show felt super racist. A lot of POC artists were robbed! Chloe x Halle, Doja Cat, BTS!!! (The Weeknd wasn’t even nominated lol) even though they had quite a successful year.”
-Mahnoor Agha
“The Grammys have always been biased and disappointing and this year was no different. Though it was great to see a few women of color win their well-deserved awards, it doesn’t change the fact that the Grammys have always been racially biased and this year was quite the same.”
-Zehra Mehdi
Communication & Design, 2024
2) Many people have accused the Grammys of racism as many artists of color have not been acknowledged even if their work has done wonders statistically. What are your thoughts? Do you think the institution has had a history of bigotry and racism or do you think these claims are baseless?
“Their board is made up of white men only. There’s no representation in the deciding powers, these decisions are taken keeping capitalistic marketing into account which is absolutely disgusting but also very characteristic of white men. So no, these claims aren’t baseless.”
-Sabika Noor
“I wholeheartedly agree with this. The academy claims to stand for ‘diversity every year but they go ahead and repeat the same shit over again. Their team of voters literally consists of white men who are very biased towards white artists. Bon Iver winning over Nicki Minaj and Macklemore winning over Kendrick Lamar when both of these black artists had phenomenal achievements made no sense in the previous years. Also, they tend to restrict POC artists to certain categories like black people to R&B/rap and won’t nominate them in the main categories which restrict these artists to this particular genre.”
-Mahnoor Agha
“The way they’re treating colored artists is so pathetic, I mean it is a white academy so what do you expect. And I’m just fascinated that BTS is such a huge thing and they’re such less artists who have made it so far and like BTS is such a big thing with billboards and fans and it’s surprising how they didn’t win it seemed more like an advertising strategy and personally I love Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande but their song wasn’t such a big hit so I just don’t get how BTS didn’t win.”
-Sabrina Haider
Social Development & Policy, 2024
3) Twitter was outraged with the recording academy for not awarding BTS for their record-breaking song “Dynamite”. Many fans argued that BTS were used as a marketing strategy and nothing more. What is your opinion on this?
“This was the third year BTS were invited to the Grammys and the treatment was beyond disgusting. They have always been humble and kind and accepted the invitation with eagerness. They’re dominating the charts as well as winning hearts globally and are known for their active fan-base. It’s no secret that the Grammys are consistently losing relevance and the only people keeping their views up are Army’s (BTS’s fan-base) eager to support BTS and their endeavors. Apart from this, as you watch the show it becomes evident that BTS are given nowhere near the same treatment as western artists. Other artists are given a huge deal of screen time, an introduction, etc. while BTS received less than three minutes of screen time and nothing else. Additionally, BTS are no strangers to performing last at award shows. This is because most of the views are given by BTS fans. The Grammys pulled the same trick and had BTS perform last in a six-and-a-half-hour long show. It’s safe to say everyone was enraged. It should be known that BTS don’t need a Grammy, nor does any award define their worth. However, they continue to work harder to receive the same respect that white artists get in the blink of an eye.”
-Zehra Mehdi
“Communication & Design, 2024
“The issue wasn’t that Rain On Me by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande won. Two women winning a Grammy is a celebration on its own. But the fact that objectively, BTS’ Dynamite should have won. What really was the criteria for Best pop duo/group performance? If it was the numbers, then Dynamite was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks and remained in the chart for an impressive 29 weeks now. Dynamite sold 2 million units as opposed to Rain On Me’s 200k. IF it was performances, then Dynamite was performed more than 30 times, most of them virtual, but with an added unique element with each performance. So there really isn’t any reason why BTS should have lost. They put an otherwise televised award (of best pop duo/group performance) to the pre-show premiere which wasn’t even televised in the States. Apart from this, awards like RnB and rap were also put in this pre-show premiere. Rap and RnB are categories heavily comprised of artists who are people of color. So this was a very blatant way to put forward white artists. I stayed up for the whole premiere and this section was so vibrant, so beautiful
Apart from this, every few minutes they would mention that BTS is up next but their performance was kept till the very end - they were used as marketing tools (advertisements went on for a month and BTS were used in them constantly) to get their very powerful fan-base to watch the show, but with blatant disrespect for their art. It was very clear, though, that the BTS doesn’t need the Grammys, the Grammys need BTS. They just wanted to get the global audience that BTS has for their disgustingly racist show.”
-Sabika Noor
4) Why do you think the Grammys don't recognize musical talents from the east? Which local artist would you wish to see perform or be nominated for a Grammy?
“The Grammys cannot and should not be able to call themselves an award show for worldwide music. It’s a racist institution that does not take into account the majority of the world and their art. White art takes the space of art all around the world and is deemed superior for reasons unknown. I had this mindset as well until BTS literally opened me up to art from the entire world. As for a local artist I would love to see on stage would definitely be my ustad for sitar, Ustad Sajid Hussain. The way he composes in minutes, the grasp he has on this very different way of producing and playing music is unreal to me. Ravi Shankar globalized North Indian music and I fell as though this rich tradition should definitely be carried forward by beautiful local musicians on a global stage.”
-Sabika Noor
“I think the west is unable to accept and respect diversity and forces artists of color and eastern artists to conform to western standards in order to be truly respected in the music industry. I really hope BTS receive a Grammy in the future. Not because they need one, but because it’s the final step in their journey in the western industry.”
-Zehra Mehdi
Communication & Design, 2024
While it is true that the 63rd Grammy Awards had record-breaking wins with Beyoncé as the most-awarded woman in Grammy history with 28 wins and Taylor Swift as the first female artist to win album of the year three times, there still seems to be a lot of underrepresentation within the recording academy for an institution that is regarded as bestowing the highest award in music globally. Dear Grammy committee, maybe next time recognize and respect artists from diverse backgrounds instead of milking their nominations and performances for views and you might just do well in your ratings... just a thought.
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