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The Weeknd slammed the Grammys as “corrupt” on Twitter after he didn’t receive any nominations.
“The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…” he wrote on the evening of November 24. The tweet accrued more than 600,000 likes in just a few hours.
Criticism has raged that The Weeknd and other Black hip-hop artists, including Pop Smoke, Roddy Rich and Lil Baby, didn’t receive more Grammy nominations.
According to Billboard, The Weeknd received no Grammy nominations at all, even though his album After Hours was incredibly successful. People who did receive nominations included Taylor Swift, Post Malone, and Beyonce, Billboard reported. The nominations were announced on November 24.
Billboard called The Weeknd’s snub a “massive surprise.”
Here’s what you need to know:
The Tweet Caused a Variety of Reactions
People reacted in starkly different ways to the tweet. Here are some of the reactions on Twitter:
“What Grammy did you deserve? Justin Bieber out performs you by far.”
“i think the reason you didn’t get nominations is because they announced them on the weekday.” That joke was tried by many.
“I agree but it’s sad because Nicki has said this for YEARS but she was called a bitter angry black woman but now since you said it everyone wants to be woke.”
“Speak on it. There is something extremely shady going on.”
“It makes no sense. You are the artist of the year by every definition and criteria. Critical and commercial. One of the most successful songs and albums of ever, inspired countless artists today with your sound.”
“u didn’t deserve but thanks for standing up for the artists that did.”
“you had one of the best albums of the year and did so much campaigning but we all know why they snubbed u.”
“lol if you are talking about album success, TAYLOR SWIFT stayed on billboard 200 for 8 weeks and is the only album this year to sell a million copies and how are they bias if beyonce got the most nominations, isnt beyonce also a POC?”
Why Didn’t The Weeknd Get Grammy Noms?
TMZ alleged that there was another reason the Weeknd might not have gotten Grammy nods: The entertainment site says he upset Grammy bosses by going back and forth about performing at the Super Bowl or the Grammys.
However, according to Buzzfeed, the chief of the academy, Harvey Mason, Jr., denied that the Super Bowl had anything to do with the lack of nominations, saying the voting had ended before The Weeknd’s performance was known.
He emphasized that the Grammys are “peer-voted.”
“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,” he said to Buzzfeed.
“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,” he also said to the site.
Others allege that it’s racism. According to US Weekly, the Weeknd had two top 10 singles in 2020 and six songs in the top 200.
Justin Bieber also lodged criticism over the Grammys on his Instagram page. Bieber wrote,
To the Grammys, 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 I absolutely love Pop music it just wasn’t what I set out to make this time around. My gratitude for feeling respected for my work remains and I am honored to be nominated either way.
The Weeknd recently caused controversy when he appeared with a bandaged face at the American Music Award for Favorite Album. He explained it was a statement about the dangers of drunk driving.
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