It’s that time of year again, where the Grammy nominations have been announced and the conversations have begun.
Just as every year, the award show brings out some of the best to do it in hip-hop and R&B, as well as some questionable concerns. There always seems to be mixed emotions about who received a nomination and who should have. This year isn’t much different from that.
In the Rap category, many new artists and well-respected ones were highlighted for their work in 2020. Several hip-hop heads were excited to see Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist, Jay Electronica, Nas, and Royce Da 5’9 receive a nomination for best rap album since they usually don’t get the recognition they should. They also don’t fall into mainstream music, which is already a huge win for hip hop that they are up for a Grammy.
There are also great artists like Big Sean, the late Nipsey Hussle, DaBaby, Beyoncé, Drake, Travis Scott, Anderson .Paak, Roddy Ricch, and Lil Baby, who have been nominated in the past, and some have taken them home.
Then there are the new artists that really took 2020 to another level, like Megan Thee Stallion, Jack Harlow, the late Pop Smoke, Lil Durk, Doja Cat, D SMOKE, and more. For Meg, she’s brought out female empowerment to the rap game and had several hits. She and Beyoncé are nominated for best rap song, best rap performance, and record of the year for their “Savage” hit. As for D Smoke, who took the competition for the Netflix series Rhythm & Flow in 2019, is running up for best rap album for his debut album Black Habits and best new artists.
The R&B category also shined a light on talented artists, such as Jhené Aiko. The Chilombo artist received her first nominations ever in several categories such as album of the year, best R&B performance, featuring John Legend, and best progressive R&B album. EarthGang and Tiana Major9 are runners up for best R&B song for “Collide,” which was featured in the Queen and Slim movie. Artists like Chloe x Halle, H.E.R., Thundercat, Luke James, and more have also been nominated in the R&B category.
Although there are several applauds for these nominations, there was a big snub that was hard to miss. The music industry and fans weren’t too please to find that The Weeknd didn’t receive the recognition he deserved for his hit single “Blinding Lights” and album After Hours. The Weeknd himself called out the Grammys saying they are “corrupt” and demanded “transparency.”
The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) November 25, 2020
Collaboratively planning a performance for weeks to not being invited? In my opinion zero nominations = you’re not invited!
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) November 25, 2020
Drake even took a moment to share his thoughts on the situation on his Instagram story. He explained that we should probably not let the Grammys work everyone up each year, since it’s brought disappointment to many. He also expressed that a Grammy might not hold value as recognition anymore and suggested someone to “start something new.”
“The other day I said The Weeknd was a lock for either album or song of the year along with countless other reasonable assumptions and it just never goes that way,” Drake wrote in his story. “This is a great time for somebody to start something new that we can build up over time and pass on to the generations to come.”
With all the mixed feelings about the Grammys, artists have taken time to congratulate each other or voice their opinions. Check out what some of them said below. The list of the complete Grammy Nominations can be found here.
Deep Reverence!!! Love! Thank you! @NipseyHussle @Hit_Boy @RecordingAcad 🙏🏾🏆
— Sean Don (@BigSean) November 24, 2020
woah! thank you @RecordingAcad 😱😱😱 #CHILOMBO pic.twitter.com/arkg6c1QIE
— Chilombo (@JheneAiko) November 24, 2020
So excited for @DSmoke7 who went from winning the first season of our show @rhythmflow to multiple #grammys nominations!
— John Legend (@johnlegend) November 24, 2020
Congratulations to @JheneAiko on ALL of her nominations! Thank you for including me on this record! https://t.co/cupqvbXTwV
— John Legend (@johnlegend) November 24, 2020
WOWWWWW. SO GRATEFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shout out to the teams!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Music is amazing 🥰 13 nominations in 3 years!!!!!!!!!!! Unreal. Thank you for listening to the music!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @SkipMarley @robertglasper @OfficialMeshell #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/TKWE0OaTop
— H.E.R. (@HERMusicx) November 24, 2020
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIBMc7FDrWI/
U hate to see it. 🐰 pic.twitter.com/nG1Cn6O7mf
— Skinny Suge (@FreddieGibbs) November 25, 2020
