Lots of artists and viewers alike have stated that the Grammy Awards have lost their relevance over the past few years. Like many other major entertainment awards, the companies in charge—who decide the winners and nominations—are arguably more biased towards white artists and snub people of color, particularly black artists and most recently Asian artists. Many critics say that the voting system is outdated and unfair. In 2021, Grammy controversies involved The Weeknd and BTS.
Following the 2021 Grammys on March 15th, The Weeknd vowed to boycott all future Grammys. His recent release “Blinding Lights” broke chart records and received critical acclaim. Furthermore, The Weeknd headlined the Super Bowl halftime show, a huge accomplishment for any artist. As such, there were high expectations for The Weeknd and everybody thought he would go home a winner. Instead, he was snubbed and did not even receive a Grammy nomination. The Weeknd blamed the anonymous - “secret” expert committees who pick the nominees and winners. They review the initial nomination choices submitted by members of the Recording Academy, the committee in charge of the Grammys. Subsequently, he vowed to boycott the Grammys from now on, joining a list of other prominent black artists who did the same, like Drake, Kanye West, and Frank Ocean.
Alongside The Weeknd, global K-pop superstars BTS were the talk of the night for being snubbed at the Grammys. They are the first K-pop group in history to ever be nominated for a Grammy—for best pop duo/group performance—with their English single “Dynamite”, released in late 2020. Before the awards, the Grammys heavily promoted the group’s appearance. Throughout the event, they continually teased BTS’ highly anticipated live performance of “Dynamite.” They knew that people would be hooked to their screens once BTS performed. However, BTS only performed at the end of the night and the award they were nominated for wasn’t even televised. To top it all off, they didn’t even win the award; it was instead given to Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga for “Rain on Me.” The Grammys tokenized BTS and only used them to boost viewership of the awards, which still ended up hitting a record low.
After the fiasco that took place on March 15th, particularly with the Grammys snubbing artists of color like BTS and The Weeknd, many viewers and artists alike have lost their respect and trust in the Grammys. The topic #Scammys trended on social media following the event, referencing how the awards scam and snub many promising artists, not giving them the credit they deserve.
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Published April 12, 2021
Written by Lindsay Wong ~ Edited by Alex Truong ~ Graphics by Tanya Gu
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