So here we have the latest update on the Grammys… yet again disappointing everyone.
As per their annual tradition, the Grammy Awards pay tribute in a special and heart-warming segment to musicians who have passed away in recent times, acknowledging their careers and their contributions to the world through their music.
Over the last year or so, music lovers experienced a great deal of loss, with the ceremony paying tribute to artists including MF DOOM, Pop Smoke, Whodini’s John “Ecstasy” Fletcher, Toots Hibbert of Toots & The Maytals and Chick Corea as reported by NME.
Influential rapper and producer, Daniel Dumile, who the rap world knew as MF DOOM recently passed away on October 31st last year.
MF DOOM fans tuned into the broadcast to catch a glimpse of the rapper earning the recognition he deserves, only to be left with nothing but absolute disappoint and disgust – if you will, as his name was incorrectly stylised, a huge mistake, particularly for a moment which was commemorating the artist’s mark on the world.
And none of this should come across as a surprise to the Grammys, particularly as per the 2004 MF DOOM and Madlib, Madvillain track, ‘All Caps’. The rapper couldn’t have made it more clear how his name is intended to be written. He rapped, “It’s ugly, like look at you, it’s a damn shame/ Just remember ALL CAPS when you spell the man name.”
ALL CAPS WHEN YOU SPELL THE MAN’S NAME https://t.co/MNUyPIedPR
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— NUNEKIN KAMUI DEMARCO (@Clarknova1) March 15, 2021
Unfortunately this also isn’t the only distasteful move made by the awards show this year when it came to tributes.
Wolfgang Van Halen has expressed his disappointment with the broadcast in relation to his father, Eddie Van Halen’s tribute. He said, “I didn’t realize they would only show Pop for 15 seconds in the middle of four full performances for others we had lost.”
“What hurt the most was that he wasn’t even mentioned when they talked about artists we lost in the beginning of the show. I know rock isn’t the most popular genre right now (and the academy does seem a bit out of touch) but I think it’s impossible to ignore the legacy my father left on the instrument, the world of rock, and music in general. There will never be another innovator like him.”