Grammy Awards That Are Not Free From The Stigma Of Racism

JAKARTA - The nominations for the 2021 Grammy Awards were announced on Tuesday, November 24, United States time. However, like previous years, the Grammy Awards were never free from the issue of racism.

Rapper Nicki Minaj who was not nominated this year chose to flashback to 2012 in which he did not win this prestigious music award.

“Never forget Grammys didn't give me the Best New Artist award when I had 7 songs that hit the Billboard charts and a huge first week total compared to other female rappers over the past decade - to inspire a generation. They gave him to the white man Bon Iver, "he concluded by using the hashtag #PinkFriday on the same day.

Never forget the Grammys didn't give me my best new artist award when I had 7 songs simultaneously charting on the billboard & bigger first week than any female rapper in the last decade- went on to inspire a generation. They gave it to the white man Bon Iver. #PinkFriday

- Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ) November 24, 2020

That year, Minaj was nominated for Best New Artist with The Band Perry, Bon Iver, J. Cole, and Skrillex. Being the only woman in the nomination, Minaj is sure to bring the trophy through her new album, Pink Friday.

For some reason, Minaj's accusation was tagged with the word 'female rapper'. Certainly, he did not accept what he experienced at that time even though eight years had passed.

But after that, Minaj was nominated in 2014 and 2015. Even though until now the Anaconda singer has never won the Grammy Awards trophy even once.

As for Bon Iver, this year he is nominated for the 2021 Grammy Awards as Taylor Swift's collaborator for the song Exile.

Grammy Awards that are labeled racist continue to roll. From 1990 to 2006, only six black musicians won trophies at this prestigious event. While in 2018 and 2019 there were eight nominations filled by black musicians.

However, people's memories did not escape when Beyonce's album lost to Beck at the 2015 Grammy Awards. While giving his speech, rapper Kanye West took the stage and said Beyonce deserved the award more.

After that, Beyonce again had to accept defeat from Adele in 2017. Likewise, Frank Ocean who lost to Mumford and Sons and Kendrick Lamar who lost to Daft Punk.

People say that racism in the Grammy world continues to grow every year. Judging from some of the examples above, a pattern is formed that black musicians always lose to white musicians in this performance.

Tyler, The Creator, also made accusations of racism. He said, mentioning 'Urban' in one of his nominations is like saying 'Nigga' subtly. "It sucks when I - guys like me do a mix of genres, they always put it in the Urban category."

Systemic racism in the Grammy Awards continues to be a byword where fans don't accept the fact that their idol artist does not bag a nomination. White singers are always considered to 'seize' what should belong to black musicians.

But on the other hand, the musician's music quality must also be considered. Both Bon Iver's self titled album and Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday are both good and deserve positive criticism.

The Grammys have raised their voices regarding the accusations that often circulate on the internet every year. When asked about Beyonce's defeat in 2017, Neil Portnow as President of the Recording Academy answered:

"No, I don't think there's a race problem at all," he told Pitchfork, Thursday, November 26.

According to Portnow, the public needs to know that the selection of nominations is not carried out by the company completely. They have 14,000 members of the Recording Academy who are professionals in the music industry.

“As musicians, we don't listen to music based on gender, race or ethnicity. When you support a piece of music - at least that's what I do - it's like wearing an eye patch and listening. "

“When voting, we asked (Recording Academy members) not to pay attention to the number of sales as well as how much popularity. You have to listen to the music. So 14,000 supporters, they listen, decide and give support. "

The selection process was also carried out in a closed manner where there was no known identity of the committee so that the public called the process not transparent. Yes, as long as there is no openness regarding the selection of nominations, the stigma of racism will continue to be embedded in the Grammy Awards.