Why Grammys Bad
We're Not Talking About Your Racist Grandma, We're Talking About The Racist Award Show
Every year we complain about a snubbed artist or an out-of-touch Grammy Academy. What do we know about the committee that analyzes Grammy nominations and who ultimately wins? In an unsurprising lack of transparency, itās rather shrouded in mystery.
An article from LA Times dives into how nominations are decided.
The goal in each category is to take the 20 nominations that the members send forth and get the list down to a consensus of the seven or eight that we feel are the [best]. When we get that consensus, we stop. Each member of the committee then fills out a ballot, which isn't tabulated that day. So when we leave the room, no one ā including Mike Greene ā knows the results. The only ones who know are the accountants when they tabulate it later.
You canāt even find this information on the Recording Academy website. Even more damning is a lack of profile information for Recording Academy chapter board members. The Academy stated in 2021 they were changing voting to be more transparent, only to say it would then be voted upon by their vague āvoting membersā.
When analyzing the mystery behind this show and how we often feel it doesnāt represent the culture we love, why do we watch it? Why do we time and again pay mind to an industry run by mysterious executives hellbent on calling the shots while owning the entirety of the industryās means of production?
Not to mention, The Grammy Awards has displayed their history as another racist institution in a system littered with such. Jay-Z acknowledged in this yearās edition the history of The Grammys sidelining Black artists. Macklemoreās win over Kendrick Lamarās good kid m.A.A.d city is a popular example but the same trend can be witnessed yearly and dating back decades.
From 2012 to 2020, just 26.7% of top Grammy nominations were Black, which is stunning considering how Hip-Hop topped music in that decade. Itās not just Black music either. Despite the K-Pop BTS dominance in 2019, the group didnāt receive a single nomination.
While we continue navigating a broken industry, perhaps itās time to look at decision makers. Perhaps itās time to side with our class interest and be in solidarity with artists, not some people we donāt know in a room somewhere deciding merit. Perhaps artists should realize their labor value and merit. Perhaps the industry should consider abolitionist tactics.
Stay tuned for upcoming content from Bulletproof Soul. For more from the Bulletproof Soul gang, stream Nyyjerya, SLWJMZ, Lofty305, DJ Sabrina, Angela Davis, Amouranth, Alek Oni, Elektrip, TWENTYN9NE, JACOB SONGS, Ali Wisdom, Kengeta, and Austin.