Not holding back! The Weeknd called out the Grammys hours after the 2021 nominations were announced on Tuesday, November 24.
“The Grammys remain corrupt,” the “Blinding Lights” singer, 30, tweeted on Tuesday. “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”
The Weeknd was shut out completely by the Recording Academy despite his album, After Hours, and its many singles being a staple on the airwaves. During 2020, he had two singles land in the top 10 on the Billboard charts and six songs make it on the Billboard Global 200 list.
The “Save Your Tears” artist, who earned eight 2020 American Music Awards nominations last month and won three trophies on Sunday, November 22, was not alone in his gripes against how the Grammys picks nominees. Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj threw shade at the awards show on social media for their own reasons on Tuesday.
The “Yummy” singer, 26, who was nominated for four Grammy Awards, including Best Pop Vocal Album voiced his issues with his album, Changes, being classified as a pop album and not a R&B record.
“Please don’t mistake this as me being ungrateful, these are just my thoughts take em or leave em. Thank you to the people who fought for me to even have any noms,” Bieber prefaced his Instagram message regarding his gripe with the academy.
The Canadian crooner penned a let to the Grammys noting he is “flattered to be acknowledged and appreciated for my artistry” before breaking down why his album should not be classified as a pop record.
“I am very meticulous and intentional about my music. With that being said I set out to make an R&B album. Changes was and is an R&B album,” he wrote. “It is not being acknowledged as an R&B album which is very strange to me. I grew up admiring R&B music and wished to make a project that would embody that sound. For this not to be put into that category feels weird considering from the chords to the melodies to the vocal style all the way down to the hip hop drums that were chosen it is undeniably, unmistakably an R&B album!”
He concluded by saying he “absolutely love[s] Pop music, [but] it just wasn’t what I set out to make this time around. My gratitude for feeling respected for my work remains and I am honored to be nominated either way.”
Minaj, for her part, brought up a past Grammys issue after Bon Iver earned a nod for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for his collaboration with Taylor Swift on “Exile.”
“Never forget the Grammys didn’t give me my best new artist award when I had 7 songs simultaneously charting on billboard & bigger first week than any female rapper in the last decade- went on to inspire a generation,” the “Tusa” rapper, 37, tweeted. “They gave it to the white man Bon Iver. #PinkFriday.”
Minaj was up against Bon Iver, which is a folk group founded by Justin Vernon, in 2012 for Best New Artist, which she lost. Bon Iver also took home the trophy for Alternative Music Album that year. The “Anaconda” rapper, however, has yet to win a Grammy.
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