Boycott GRAMMYs: The Weeknd Pledges to Cut Ties from Award-Giving Body Following Snub
The Weeknd is boycotting the Grammys as he moves forward with his life and music career.
In a statement he sent to The New York Times, The Weeknd pledged that he officially cut ties from the award after the 2021 snub.
"Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys," he said, as quoted by Pitchfork.
The snub came unfairly after the Canadian singer dropped his album "After Hours" which is one of the biggest albums in 2020. It even debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart soon after its release in March 2020.
He follows the growing list of Black performers - like Kanye West and Drake- who sees Grammys as a threat to the entire music community. Frank Ocean also joined the list and declined to submit "Blonde" and "Endless" during their release years.
Many viewers also noticed the Grammys' unfair record of snubbing Black people. To recall, the last Black artist who made it on the award-giving body's stage was Herbie Hancock in 2008.
But as part of its attempt to change its image, the Recording Academy hired a diversity officer and welcomed more women and people of color into under its wing.
In fact, there are pre-Grammy events happening this week, including Women in the Mix and Black Music Collective.
What Happened Between The Weeknd, Recording Academy?
In November 2020, the Recording Academy presented the ensemble of nominees for the 2021 Grammy Awards.
However, after the committee announced the list, other artists and fans found out that most of the well-deserved acts and performers did not make it to the cut.
With the absence of The Weeknd's name on the nominees, he immediately posted a tweet and criticized Grammy.
"You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency," he said.
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Meanwhile, the chair and interim president/CEO of the Recording Academy Harvey Mason Jr. said in November that the voting body decides who should be nominated and who should be not.
"We're all disappointed when anyone is upset.... But I will say that we are constantly evolving. And this year, as in past years, we are going to take a hard look at how to improve our awards process, including the nomination review committees," he said, per Variety.
The snub was unexpected after all, as A source told Rolling Stone that the singer had some discussions about his possible performance in January.
According to the insider, the singer's team already planned out what he should perform for the 2021 Grammys. However, he found out that the Academy completely snubbed him,
