In 2017, Adele accepted the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for her album, “25.” While accepting the award, facing an audience of the biggest names in the music industry, and millions of viewers at home, she declared, “My artist of my life is Beyoncé [...] This album (Lemonade) was so monumental.” In the years since, the shoutout has practically become an internet meme.
But, beneath the surface, this touching pop culture moment highlights a deeper issue — the Grammys are facing a credibility crisis.
For the past couple of years, the Recording Academy has been subject to criticism, scrutinized for snubbing deserving artists and failing to recognize talent in diverse musicians. The Grammys claim to celebrate the best in the music industry, honoring artists in over 94 categories for their creativity and immense talent. For this reason, many have begun to question their integrity and whether they’re a fair medium to dictate musical excellence or an antiquated one motivated by cultural bias and power dynamics. The choices the committee has made don’t reflect the depth of creativity being produced.
Time and time again, the academy has overlooked Black artists, especially in major categories such as Artist of the Year, reinforcing the idea that they are only meant for genre-specific categories. The Weeknd’s 2021 shutout was particularly shocking, despite “After Hours” being one of the most significant albums of the year, reigniting debates over the validity of the award show selection process.
Many artists have criticized the Academy’s debatable decision-making, including Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator and Nicki Minaj, pointing to a long history of out-of-touch selections and genre misclassifications. For years, groundbreaking artists like Kendrick Lamar and Eminem were overlooked in favor of other artists with less cultural impact — being deemed good enough for R&B or Rap Album of the Year but not Album of the Year.
This problem runs deeper than just individual rebuffs; it’s systemic.
In 2021, only 26.7% of Grammy nominees were Black artists, even though 38% were dominating the Billboard charts, exposing the Grammy’s failure to accurately reflect the landscape of the music industry. Countless artists have been confined to “urban” categories, as if their impact doesn’t extend beyond them.
Though the name has changed to Progressive R&B, the mindset behind the nominations hasn’t.
A prime example is Kanye West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” largely considered one of the greatest albums of our time. It was not nominated for Album of the Year and instead was chosen for Rap Album of the Year. Ranking top album of the 2010s out of 100 by Rolling Stone, this oversight was one of the most baffling in Grammys history. This pattern of downplaying culturally significant albums has occurred before with Beyoncé and “Lemonade,” which wasn’t just an album but a political statement and culturally adored collection of music. Finally, Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly" was widely criticized for losing as it was a masterful blend of jazz and spoken poetry regarding race, identity and systematic oppression.
If an artist can dominate the charts and album sales yet receive zero nominations, what does it mean for the Grammys’ credibility?
If the Grammys truly aim to honor the best in music, they need to start recognizing the artists responsible for shaping the industry and leaving a cultural impact for generations to come, genre aside. While their credibility remains up for debate, the Recording Academy has continued to prove that they are out of touch. Until they acknowledge all of the artists shaping the industry, fans and musicians should boycott and put less emphasis on the show until they implement more diversity and inclusion.
Safa Razvi is a freshman studying journalism and economics. Do you agree that the Grammy's are in the midst of a credibility crisis? Send all comments to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
