Look Who it Was Random video

So, About Those 2015 Grammy Nominations...

4,262 views · Published 15 December 2014 · 14:25 · Indexed 4 October 2026

Channel: Sensei Aishitemasu · 2014 · People & Blogs

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Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a good weekend. 

This is a video I've been meaning to make for awhile about the sorry state of the Grammy Awards and the slow white-washing of mainstream music. After last year's sweep of the rap categories by duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (for the now ironically-named rap album, 'The Heist') over Kendrick Lamar's critically-acclaimed, 'good kid, m.a.a.d city,' a lot of music listeners have been questioning the validity of the Grammy Awards and the prescience of the committee voters. It appears white artists are being heavily awarded and touted for their work, while Black artists are either left off entirely or pigeon-holed into the recently-created 'Urban Contemporary Album' genre.  

It's extremely troubling that a racialized code word like 'urban' has made it into the high-profile awards ceremony, and many also wonder about the music industry's creation of sub-genres like 'neo-soul' and the habit of pushing Black artists into said sub-genres and out of mainstream categories like pop and r&b. Singer Beyonce is a prime example of this push: her critically acclaimed fifth album, 'Beyonce,' while being nominated for Album of the Year, Best R&B song, and Best R&B performance, was not nominated for R&B Album of the Year, Record of the Year, or Song of the Year. Instead she finds herself relegated to the 'Best Urban Contemporary Album' category. 

Newcomers YG (rapper), DJ Mustard (producer), and fka twigs (singer), also all saw themselves left out although they each released some of the most critically-acclaimed work in 2014; every Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist nominee is white. Pop-rapper Igloo Australia has been the first rapper to ever be cross-nominated in different genres, and other heavily Black-influenced white artists see themselves at the top of the 'Big Four' categories. 

Many fear that this is removing opportunities for Black artists to gain mainstream interest and recognition. There have also been concerns that the Grammy committee is too old, too white, and too mainstream to properly assess the quality of music in little-known or culturally significant genres like rap or r&b, and instead just gives the awards away to well-known (and typically white) names for publicity and viewership. 

Thanks for watching. 

Links:

'10 Reasons The Grammys Are As White As You Think They Are:'
http://www.thefader.com/2014/12/12/10-reasons-the-grammys-are-as-white-as-you-think-they-are

'Making Sense Of The 2015 Grammy Nominations:'
http://www.stereogum.com/1723204/making-sense-of-the-2015-grammy-nominations/franchises/essay/

'Hate Me Now: What It's Like To Be A Grammy Voter:'
http://uk.complex.com/music/2014/01/how-does-grammy-voting-work

'Honorable Mention: The Snubs of the 2015 Grammys:'
http://fdrmx.com/honorable-mention-snubs-2015-grammys/

'THE 5 BIGGEST SNUBS FROM THE 57TH ANNUAL GRAMMY NOMINATIONS:'
http://theearlyregistration.com/2014/12/05/12053/

My related videos:

''Thug Racists' and Coded Language:'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV0UhND1BKs

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