59th Grammy Awards Controversy: Recording Academy President Explains Beyonce’s Loss; Insists Academy Voters All Experts, Professionals [VIDEO}
After Beyonce lost the Album of the Year honor at the recent 59th Grammy Awards, a lot accused the award-giving body of being racist. But, Recording Academy President Neil Portnow strongly denied the allegation asserting that they don't have a racial problem.
"No, I don't think there's a race problem at all," Neil Portnow told Pitchfork about the controversy of Beyonce's loss at the 59th Grammy Awards. The president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences explained that Grammys is a "peer-voted award," thus the 14,000 members of the Academy are the ones who will choose who will win.
A lot of performing stars complained about Beyonce's loss in the 59th Grammy Awards. The likes of Frank Ocean, Solange Knowles, and St. Vincent indicated that the members of the Academy who opted to vote for Adele are biased and not in favor of black artists.
But, Neil Portnow argued that the members of the Academy are all experts and professional who are not looking at the race of the artists. He even used Chance the Rapper as an example that voters honor every musician for winning the Best New Artist award at the 59th Grammy Awards, according to Toronto Sun.
In fact, even Adele herself spoke out after Beyonce loss in the Record, Song, and Album of the Year categories. "I was completely rooting for her, I voted for her. I felt like it was her time to win. What the f- does she have to do to win album of the year?" the "Hello" hitmaker said in the press room when she won at the 59th Grammy Awards.
Adele dedicated her win to Beyonce and even broke her 59th Grammy Awards honor in half, so she could share it with Jay Z's wife, People reported. However, the "Lemonade" singer has won the Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best Music Video. To recall, it was in 1999 when Lauryn Hill, an African-American artist, won the Album of the Year award.
