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The Weeknd doesn’t accept his Grammys shutout without a fight.
Hours after the Recording Academy announced the nominations for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards – and revealed that the Canadian pop-soul writer hadn’t deserved a single one – the Weeknd responded on Twitter Tuesday night, saying to his 13.5 million subscribers: “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the transparency of the industry. “
The academy’s decision not to name the 30-year-old singer’s smash 2020 album “After Hours” or his chart-topping single “Blinding Lights” has triggered shockwaves in the music industry, observers wondering how an artist so popular with fans and critics could be overlooked for the industry’s most prestigious award while relatively obscure acts like Jacob Collier and Black Pumas were filled with high profile nods.
According to data-tracking firm BuzzAngle, “After Hours” sold 460,000 copies and racked up more than 1.7 billion streams, enough to make it the third most-consumed album of the year. “Blinding Lights,” meanwhile, has been in the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 since February.
This month, the NFL announced that it has booked the Weeknd for the Super Bowl LV halftime show on February 7.
In a statement, Harvey Mason Jr., president of the Recording Academy and interim CEO, said, “We understand the Weeknd is disappointed not to be named. I was surprised and I can understand what he is feeling. … Unfortunately, each year there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists.
The singer’s reference to alleged corruption of the Grammys appears to have been inspired by explosive allegations made earlier this year by Mason’s predecessor Deborah Dugan, who said the academy voting process was rigged by members organization for the benefit of friends and colleagues.
In an impassioned Tuesday post, Lenny Beer, the well-connected editor-in-chief of music industry trade journal Hits, wrote: “There is no scenario in which this ubiquitous, fascinating, pushing artist the envelopes with a heavenly voice and the best material of his career was simply neglected by voters who somehow embraced artists we’ve never heard of.
Beer went on to conclude that the Weeknd was “deliberately excluded” – precisely the type of accusation that the besieged academy sought to avoid when it recently instituted a rule change requiring members of its secret nominating committees to disclose everything. potential conflict of interest that they might have. with artists competing for the Grammys.
And make no mistake: The Weeknd, who has won three Grammys in the past, was most certainly campaigning this time around, as evidenced by the many high profile interviews he has attended and his glowing appearances in other awards. (including Sunday’s American Music Awards). .
In a report to few sources on Tuesday, TMZ alleged the singer was frozen by the academy because he angered executives while negotiating a deal to perform both at the Grammys on the 31st. January and the Super Bowl halftime show on February 7. . Both will air on CBS.
Mason refuted this assertion in his statement.
“We were thrilled when we found out he would be performing at the next Super Bowl and wished he had performed on the Grammy stage the weekend before as well,” Mason said. “To be clear, voting in all categories ended long before the Weeknd’s Super Bowl performance was announced, so that in no way could have affected the nomination process.
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