The Weeknd To Boycott Grammys Going Forward
The Weeknd is boycotting the Grammys.
After being shut out of the 2021 nominations, the singer has announced that he will boycott the awards from now on. “Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys,” he told The New York Times.
He is referring to the anonymous expert committees that review the initial nomination selections from voting members of the Recording Academy and narrow them down to the final nominees. They ultimately decide who makes the cut. The Grammys claim that the committees are done to preserve the integrity of the awards.
The Weeknd, whose music was submitted in six Grammy categories, received no nominations this year despite the commercial and critical success of his latest album After Hours.
“I use a sucker punch as an analogy,” he told Billboard in January. “Because it just kind of hit me out of nowhere. I definitely felt … I felt things. I don’t know if it was sadness or anger. I think it was just confusion. I just wanted answers. Like, ‘What happened?’ We did everything right, I think. I’m not a cocky person. I’m not arrogant. People told me I was going to get nominated. The world told me. Like, ‘This is it; this is your year.’ We were all very confused.”
He also questioned if something bigger was at play. “If you were like, ‘Do you think the Grammys are racist?’ I think the only real answer is that in the last 61 years of the Grammys, only 10 Black artists have won album of the year,” he said. “I don’t want to make this about me. That’s just a fact.”