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The 61st Grammys are broadcast on the evening of Sunday, February 10 and there is much to expect: for the second year in a row, hip-hop artists and R & B dominate the four main categories of Recording Academy: Year disc, year album, year song, best new artist – as do women and color artists in general.
But, as in most major awards ceremonies, the authority of the Grammys has recently been questioned. years, while the Recording Academy is facing disastrous issues related to diversity and representation. The institution has been forced to cope with its overwhelming past of Whites and Men, if it hopes to remain relevant as a reference of musical excellence. What will happen at this year's ceremony will indicate whether progress is actually being made.
Last year's Grammys were tainted by controversy over the representation of men and women, starting with nominations and then increasing before, during and after the ceremony. When it came to the Album of the Year, Lorde was confronted with a list of otherwise male competitors and was the only candidate not to have received a solo spot. During the ceremony, only one woman, singer and songwriter Alessia Cara, who won the Best New Artist Award, received a major television award. After the show, Recording Academy President Neil Portnow told reporters behind the scenes that if women wanted to win more Grammys, they had to "step up", triggering the repressed hashtag #GrammysSoMale.
The Grammys show dominated by the men of last year was held The highlight of the integration of the #MeToo movement also – a figure that shows that the music industry is visibly reluctant to kiss, even as she has made significant waves in Hollywood.
The Grammys also long poked in the race and had conflictual relationship with the hip-hop community, trying to use rap performances to attract more viewers but often failing to name those same artists in the main ones. categories, not to mention rewarding them. Only two hip-hop albums have won Lauryn Hill's Album of the Year: " Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" in 1999 (which was ranked by the Academy of Record as a R & B album) and by OutKast " Speakerboxx / The Love Below" in 2004.
Given the male dominating parade of last year, as well as the report which revealed that out of the 899 nominees to the six Grammy Awards, only 9% were women the Recording Academy had a lot to do to restore confidence with the musicians and their fans.
later this year. The Recording Academy called on Alicia Keys to organize the 61st prize, making her the first woman to lead the show in more than a decade. And at the time of the press, a rich list of women should occur.
"After last year, I think this year they said," We need to make women so inclusive. We are going to have Alicia Keys. Angela Yee, radio host of "The Breakfast Club" of Power 105.1, confided to me at the Talks Salon conference. "And you can see the results of their efforts and efforts to make sure women are more involved in the process."
The Grammys also launched a working group on diversity and inclusion, new registered voters. and expanded the categories from top five to top eight, which means more artists are included than ever before. Much of the results were surprisingly relevant too. Drake and Kendrick Lamar lead the nominations, but follow closely JanE Monae, Childish Gambino, newcomer to the R & B group, and Grammy favorites rapper Cardi B. Taylor Swift have been excluded from the usual categories.
"The invasion of privacy" of Cardi B, "By the way, I forgive you" of Brandi Carlile, "Drake's Double Album" "Scorpion", the eponymous album of Post's HER Malone, "Beerbongs & Bentleys", "Dirty Janelle Monae" Computer, "Golden Hour" by Kacey Musgraves and the soundtrack of Marvel's "Black Panther" complete the exciting "Album of the Year" category.
However, although extending the nominees results in a broader critical representation, it also means that this has never been the case. more difficult to win, and inclusion in the broad sense could become essentially an aesthetic gesture if the Academy continues to reward the usual grammy darlings. It was a frustrating dynamic in the past – Jay-Z was the most nominated artist of last year and won no statue.
It remains to be seen if the hip hop competition will end up giving Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper a record for the year with "Shallow" because voters who love rap can be divided into several candidates: Cardi B, Drake, Kendrick Lamar and SZA, Childish Gambino and Post Malone and 21 Savage.
The Best Rap Album category is however one of the most interesting and competitive. Cardi B's "Invasion of Privacy" faces Pusha T.'s "Daytona", Nipsey Hussle's "Victory Lap", Travis Scott's "Astroworld" and Mac Miller's "Swimming". Shortly after the release of his album in August, the rapper died. But the mix of artists – Cardi B and Travis Scott, who are commercially successful, and Nipsey Hussle and Mac Miller, who are more underground, with Pusha T, who overlaps the two worlds, testifies to an understanding nuanced from the depth of hip-hop and a recognition of some of the most famous and talented artists in the community.
The fate of Kendrick Lamar will also be closely watched. He was the executive producer of the "Black Panther" soundtrack and is heavily featured on it. It's over for the year album, and Lamar's single "All the Stars" and his label colleague SZA is nominated for the year's record and the song's l & # 39; year. While Lamar often shaves in the rap categories, he has lost three times the coveted album award of the year for his solo albums.
According to Yee, this year's presentation by the Grammys is important. In 2017, Drake skipped the ceremony, although he was nominated for eight awards, saying that he felt "almost insane" by the Academy and the following year he refused to submit his "More Life" project.
Frank Ocean wrote a Tumblr message aimed at Grammy Award winners in 2017, explaining why he had chosen not to submit his music and derisory to the institution for rewarding Taylor Swift's "1989" as an album. the year compared to Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp A Butterfly". "Believe people, believe those who prefer to watch some shows on your show on YouTube the next day because it puts them on standby," he wrote. . "And if you're ready for a discussion of the cultural prejudices and general nervous damage that the series you're producing, then I'm very supportive." Artists are following the declining number of viewers, the last year having registered its lowest level in nine years.
Despite the efforts made this year to pay tribute to women, Ariana Grande, who appears in the promotion of the contest, decided not to perform or attend the ceremony. and called Grammy producers to try to make them believe that his "creativity and self-expression were stifling".
To make matters worse, according to a New York Times report, Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino have all been offered slot machines and have declined. It is therefore clear that for some, the long history of the marginalization and neglect of hip-hop, R & B, color artists and Grammy women has reached a breaking point that can not be corrected.
But for Yee, in the end, it will be decided who will be rewarded this year. "I think everything can be fixed," she said of Grammy confidence. "And, obviously, they are making this huge effort, but you know that what matters is who wins those awards."
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