Remember when The Grammys were the most respected award show for the music industry? Well those days are gone. The popularity contest’s credibility has plummeted in recent years.
I took notice to this decline during the 52nd Grammy Awards era (2010). It was mainly the “Best Female R&B Vocal nominations”. The nominees were: Beyonce ‘Single Ladies’, Jazmine Sullivan ‘Lions Tigers and Bears’, Melanie Fiona ‘It Kills Me’, Lalah Hathaway ‘That Was Then’, and Ledisi ‘Goin’ Thru Changes’. From the nominees, there’s no dispute as to who is the most popular artist, but take a look at those songs… is ‘Single Ladies’ even considered an R&B song? ‘Single Ladies’ not only won for ‘best R&B’ for this category, it also won ‘best R&B’ song for that year over Jamie Foxx’s ‘Blame It’, Jazmine Sullivan’s ‘Lions Tigers and Bears’, Maxwell’s ‘Pretty Wings’, and Pleasure P’s ‘Under’. ‘Single Ladies’ was a better R&B song than ‘Lions Tigers and Bears’ and ‘Pretty Wings’? This ‘choosing the most popular artist to win or be nominated’ are not only diminishing the credibility of The Grammys, it is killing R&B as we know it. Why would artists who make traditional or contemporary R&B continue that artistry, when ‘popular’ songs and artists dominate their categories? Are The Grammys colliding ‘urban-pop’ songs with R&B? If so, why not create a new category for artists such as Beyonce, Rihanna, Ciara, Pink, or Christina Aguilera? They all have been astronomically successful in their arts.
The Grammys are not the only awards show that is guilty of this: the American Music Awards selected Rihanna as an R&B/Soul nominee. PAUSE The ‘Rude Boy’, ‘What’s My Name’, and ‘Umbrella’ singer won in that category over Alicia Keys and Sade. WTF? In her and the AMAs defense, the public chooses the winners. But, whose idea was it to even put Rihanna in that category when Monica and Fantasia are both eligible?
The 2011 Grammy nominations were revealed last night: Eminem receieved an astonishing 10 nominations, Bruno Mars 7, and Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, and Lady Antebellum 6. I think they all deserve their respective acknowledgements because they all had a successful year in music. The highly overrated-greatness of ‘Love The Way You Lie’ is not my gripe. I’m upset that Alicia Keys was totally disregarded:
Best R&B Song ’Bittersweet’ -Fantasia ’Finding My Way Back’ -Jaheim ’Second Chance’ -El DeBarge ’Shine’ -John Legend &The Roots ’Why Would You Stay’ -Kem
Best R&B Album The Love & War Masterpeace -Raheem DeVaughn Back To Me — Fantasia Another Round — Jaheim Wake Up! — John Legend & The Roots Still Standing -Monica
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance ’Gone Already’ — Faith Evans ’Bittersweet’ — Fantasia ’Everything To Me’ — Monica ’Tired’ — Kelly Price ’Holding You Down (Going In Circles)’ — Jazmine Sullivan
Alicia Keys has been the face of R&B music since the new millennium. She was the best-selling R&B artist of the decade, Billboard crowned her R&B artists of the decade (2000-2010), and she was the only R&B artist whose debut was released post-2000 that was in the top 10 of the greatest R&B artists of ALL TIME. With all of her success as an R&B artist, The Grammys continuously ignore her artistry.
In December 2009, Alicia Keys released her most daring LP to date, The Element of Freedom. The album spawned 5 singles in the U.S. : ‘Doesn’t Mean Anything’, ‘Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart,’ ‘Put It In A Love Song (Radio Only)’, ‘Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down’, and ‘Unthinkable (I’m Ready)’. I don’t think many listeners will contest that ‘Unthinkable (I’m Ready)’ was an instant R&B classic. The track, co-written by Drake, spent a staggering 12 weeks as the #1 R&B song in the country. It’s currently on the charts for its 47th week, making it the most successful R&B song of the year. Yet, The Grammys didn’t recognize Alicia’s accomplishments with the single at all. It was beyond a snub on her as an artist; it was a blatant disregard and disrespect for Alicia’s artistry. Hopefully, Alicia doesn’t take the techno/pop route of another snubbed, highly successful R&B artist. The guy created arguably one of the greatest albums of all time, and only won 3 of his 8 nominations.
Other Grammy what the f*cks: Justin Bieber nominated for ‘Best New Artist’ over B.O.B? Arcade Fire and Katy Perry’s ‘album of the year’ nominations over: The Element of Freedom, The Archandroid, New Amerykah Part Two (Return Of The Ankh), etc? “Bad Romance” or “Rude Boy” isn’t nominated for ‘record or song of the year’? Why was Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 disregarded?
SN: I’m proud of the nominees listed in the R&B categories and I wish them the best of luck; but to not include Alicia Keys. “C’mon Son”
SN2: This isn’t the first time Alicia has been snubbed by The Grammys; her highly-acclaimed 2007 album As I Am wasn’t heavily recognized at The Grammys.
What happened to The Grammys? Politics? Did Alicia piss the off? Officially Pissed!
Text ALICIA to 90999. She’s trying to save the world, and you should help! #BuyLife
