American singer, The Weeknd has announced he’ll be boycotting the Grammys award going forward after he was shut out of the 2021 nominations.
For years, The Grammy awards have been facing accusations of bias against women and Black artists, and complaints over an opaque voting system that critics say is unfair and not realistic.
This year’s biggest controversy involves the Weeknd, whose mega-hit track “Blinding Lights” has broken chart records, but was snubbed by the award organisers. Last month the singer performed at the Super Bowl halftime show, pop music’s biggest show, but during the Grammy nominations, the Weeknd was snubbed, generating huge criticism towards the selection process.
Anonymous expert committees review initial nomination choices by the thousands of music professionals who make up the voting membership of the Recording Academy, and the same expert committees have the final say on who makes 61 out of the Grammys’ 84 categories.
The Weeknd, released a statement to The New York Times, saying he would boycott the awards from now on.
The Weeknd said, “Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.”