After receiving absolutely no love from the Grammys last year, The Weeknd has officially decided to flip a metaphorical bird at the institution.
In a statement to The New York Times, he has reportedly said that in the future, he will be boycotting the awards. He said, “Because of the secret committees. I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.”
Since forever, the Grammys have been plagued with many issues, perpetuating a lack of inclusivity, diversity and representation at its very core. And not to mention its “opaque voting system”, which has been critiqued by many as “unfair” and “out of touch”.
And as per The New York Times, he’s sure as hell not alone. He joins a growing cohort of artists who have followed down the same anti-establishment path, who have too boycotted the awards for a multitude of reasons. Think artists like Frank Ocean and Kanye West.
In response to the artist’s statement, Harvey Mason Jr., the academy’s interim chief executive has issued a response. He said, “We’re all disappointed when anyone is upset. But I will say that we are constantly evolving. And this year, as in past years, we are going to take a hard look at how to improve our awards process, including the nomination review committees.”
According to The Times, the academy has supposedly made an effort to change, having invited “thousands of new members” to its committees, including more women and people of colour.
Last year after The Weeknd was left rightfully pissed off about receiving no nominations, Drake jumped on Instagram in an attempt to make light of the highly controversial situation. And to be honest, he did a great job.
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He said,”I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards and just accept that what once was the highest form of recognition may no longer matter to the artists that exist now and the ones that come after.”
Drake continued on, “It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just can’t change their ways. The other day I said @TheWeeknd was a lock for either Album or Song of the Year along with reasonable assumptions and it just never goes that way.”
To conclude his words of wisdom, Drake suggested that someone “new” needs to step forward to propose an improved Grammys alternative. “This is a great time for somebody to start something new that we can build up over time and pass on to the generations to come.”
You know what, he’s onto something.
Check out this year’s Super Bowl Half Time Show performed by The Weeknd.
