Current:Home > reviewsAnother year, another Grammys where Black excellence is sidelined. Why do we still engage? -消息
Another year, another Grammys where Black excellence is sidelined. Why do we still engage?
Benjamin Ashford View
Date:2025-04-10 14:39:21
I’ve tuned into the Grammy Awards every year for as long as I can remember. As a fan of music and popular culture, I loved seeing all my favorite artists in one place. But as I became more cognizant of the politics behind these awards, I became increasingly disillusioned by them.
What happened Sunday night is a pattern the Grammys continuously uphold. Artists of color are notoriously shut out of the top categories: album of the year, song of the year and record of the year.
Taylor Swift took home album of the year for her 10th studio album, “Midnights.” She was nominated alongside SZA’s “SOS,” Lana Del Rey’s “Did You Know That There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd,” Olivia Rodrigo’s “GUTS” and more.
It’s argued that Swift’s record was one of the weakest in the category and one of the weaker albums in her own category (it’s me, I’m the one arguing).
Nevertheless, Swift’s win makes sense for the types of artists and music canon awarded in these main categories. A Black woman has not won album of the year since Lauryn Hill’s “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” in 1999.
MAGA says Taylor Swift is a Biden plant.But attacking her could cost Trump the election.
If they refuse to break barriers and award excellence in the mainstream, what hope does that give to the rest of the industry, the smaller artists who are often the true innovators? The ones who do win seem antithetical to what the Recording Academy postures itself to be.
From Beyoncé to Aretha Franklin, Black icons are sidelined
At last year's Grammy Awards show, Beyoncé's groundbreaking album “Renaissance,” a love letter to Black, queer culture, lost album of the year to “Harry’s House” by Harry Styles, an inoffensive, corporate pop album.
In fact, despite being the most-awarded artist in Grammy history, Beyoncé has never won album of the year. This reality is a common one for many Black artists who are pigeonholed to genre-specific categories and left out the main categories their white peers so freely exist in.
Aretha Franklin, who has 18 Grammys, was never even nominated in any main categories.
Tracy Chapman's Grammy's performance:Tracy Chapman, Luke Combs drove me to tears with 'Fast Car' Grammys duet. It's a good thing.
Jay-Z shed light on this issue, specifically in regards to his wife, Beyoncé, in his acceptance speech for the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. “She has more Grammys than anyone and never won album of the year, so even by your own metrics that doesn’t work,” he said.
So why do we still care?
Every year we seem stuck in this fruitless tango. Nominations come out, there are some snubs but most take it for what it is and make wide-eyed predictions about who will win (mainly whom they want to win), the ceremony commences and it’s long and boring and full of upsets head-scratching wins.
The Recording Academy does what it always does, the think pieces roll out and then we profess the Grammys’ irrelevance just to rinse and repeat the following year.
If we know the Grammys have a history of fraudulence, why do we still engage every year? It’s not like the ceremony is particularly enjoyable. Most of the interesting awards and many of the historically Black genre awards are given out during the pre-show.
I think Jay-Z summed it up quite well: “We love y'all. We want y'all to get it right. At least get it close to right.”
We love the idea of the Grammys. Music is such a permeating force in our culture. It finds its way into the crevices of our being, creating memories and eliciting emotions otherwise unearthed.
It’s completely reasonable that we’d love to see those responsible awarded for their creative prowess. It’s a shame the entity tasked with doing so swears allegiance to conformity and refuses to honor those most deserving.
Kofi Mframa is a music and culture writer and opinion intern at the Louisville Courier-Journal.
veryGood! (25)
Related
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- Mountain Dew VooDew 2024: Halloween mystery flavor unveiled and it's not Twizzlers
- 9 Years After the Paris Agreement, the UN Confronts the World’s Failure to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- What is the birthstone for November? Here's the month's dazzling gems.
- 'Most Whopper
- Instagram video blurry? Company heads admits quality is degraded if views are low
- Arkansas chief justice election won’t change conservative tilt of court, but will make history
- Then & Now: How immigration reshaped the look of a Minnesota farm town
- 'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
- Disadvantaged Communities Are Seeing a Boom in Clean Energy Manufacturing, but the Midwest Lags
Ranking
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- 'Thank God': Breonna Taylor's mother reacts to Brett Hankison guilty verdict
- Weather system in southern Caribbean expected to strengthen and head northward this week
- Video shows moment dog recognizes owner after being lost for five months in the wilderness
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Romanchuk wins men’s wheelchair race at NYC Marathon, Scaroni wins women’s event
- Teddi Mellencamp’s Estranged Husband Edwin Arroyave Shares Post About “Dark Days” Amid Divorce
- Social media users weigh in on Peanut the Squirrel being euthanized: 'This can’t be real'
Recommendation
Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
Travis Kelce Shows Off His Dance Moves Alongside Taylor Swift's Mom at Indianapolis Eras Tour Concert
Who's hosting 'SNL' tonight? Cast, musical guest, start time, where to watch Nov. 2 episode
Disadvantaged Communities Are Seeing a Boom in Clean Energy Manufacturing, but the Midwest Lags
Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
Love Is Blind's Marissa George Debuts New Romance After Ramses Prashad Breakup
Police in Michigan say 4 killed, 17 injured after semitruck crashes into vehicles stuck in traffic
Can you freeze deli meat? Here’s how to safely extend the shelf life of this lunch staple.