ITT: The Racial Bias of the Grammys

ITT: The Racial Bias of the Grammys

Frank ocean has called them out on this, is he right on this one?

>all americans

he is an idiot with too much free time on his hands

These are all fantastic albums....
(except for the Lionel Ritchie one)

Its hilarious that all the Beyonce and Frank ocean drones got all worked up over the Lemonade snub.

Many black artists have already paved the way for them. Its just lack of talent from their part and ignorance of the history of their own music.

how come natalie cole and lionel ritchie win AOTY lol

Kendrick Lamar lost to Daft Punk. Beyoncé lost to Beck. Kendrick Lamar lost to Taylor Swift. Beyoncé lost to Adele. The Grammys are a scripted event: a black artist releases an ambitious album that defines its year and embodies the deliberate craft the Grammys supposedly reward; votes are cast largely by suits whose sole form of sustenance is industry politics as a drip-feed into their ears; someone else wins.

Lemonade was ridiculously overrated.
Glad to see the Grammys become one of the few dissenting voices against the Beyonce hype.
Lemonade had no hit singles and it's barely hanging on for dear life on the Billboard charts whereas Rihanna's 'Anti-' is still in the Top-20.

> a black artist releases an ambitious album that defines its year and embodies the deliberate craft

The same thing can be said about The Miseducation, Speakerboxx, Thriller and all of Stevie Wonders work. All of them critically acclaimed and had huge sales.

Adele outsold Lemonade. I think Beyonce fans should stay away from Twitter, Tumblr, Buzzfeed, and other social media for a while. They live in this bubble where Beyonce is the biggest artist on the planet, and the truth is Adele is way bigger world wide than Beyonce has ever been (and will ever be).

The Grammys being a popularity contest, its no surprise Adele stole the show.

That's what George Soros wants me to believe, I guess.

The people behind the 'artists' who are pushing this bullshit narrative are the same people who gave the awards out in the first place.

I'm not glad that Adele won, but I'm glad that Beyonce lost. Fuck her and her music.
Sturgill Simpson should have won even though I knew he wouldn't.

It's tempting to say the Grammys are getting better at this, but they're not. (The trend also dovetails nicely with the trend of hip-hop and R&B being shut out from Top 40 radio despite dominating the charts and the zeitgeist, not to mention certain real-world regressive political undercurrents.) If the Grammys of yesteryear took place today, it's easy to imagine The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill losing to Madonna’s Ray of Light or Speakerboxx/The Love Below losing to the White Stripes’ Elephant. And in 2017, a strong year for albums—the entire Urban Contemporary category alone would make a fine Album of the Year slate—the voters couldn't find anything more compelling for the main event than Justin Bieber, post-peak Drake, Sturgill Simpson, and a particularly cursory Adele. While 21 defined the zeitgeist and carried the industry in sales for two years, 25 sold well and didn't linger. 25 is the “Set Fire to the Rain” to 21's “Rolling in the Deep.”

>$0.05 have been deposited into your account

But then, Lemonade didt linger too.

The awards should have been handed out to Rihanna. I dont like her music, but she seems to appeal to everyone right now.

stop talking to yourself. You fool no one.

Again, you are evaluating the zeitgeist and political undercurrents of this era of the Twitter/Tumblr/Buzzfeed bubble. It has nothing to do with reality.

Ok this is going fucking nowhere.
Rank em.

>~13% of the population

Naw this looks representative.

talent/skill/IQ > identity
sorry, blacks, you guys got unlucky with them there genetics. Sad!

Key of Life > Jacko > Innervisions > Lauryn > Fulfillingness > Outkast > HERBIE NIGGA > Ray > Quincy > Lionel > Whitney > Natalie

BOYCOTT THE 100m IN THE OLYMPICS, ALL THE RUNNERS ARE BLACK!!

BOYCOTT ALL MARATHONS, ALL THE WONNERS ARE BLACK!!

RACISM IN SPORT

Here's another game.

The Album of the Year Winners for 1978-1987:

Fleetwood Mac (Rumours)
Bee Gees (Saturday Night Dance Fever)
Billy Joel (52nd Street)
Christopher Cross (Christopher Cross)
John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Double Fantasy)
Toto (Toto IV)
Michael Jackson (Thriller)
Lionel Richie (Can't Slow Down)
Phil Collins (No Jacket Required)
Paul Simon (Graceland)

--this list is 20% black. In fact, the actual rate for black album of the year winners is 18%, so this is pretty representative.

So what would you have chosen for those years? Things to bear in mind:

1) the Grammy award for best album should appeal to general tastes and sense of melody
2) the Grammys for a year award for the year prior, so the 1978 Grammys were for albums from 1977

Here's my list:

Fleetwood Mac (Rumours)
Steve Reich (Music for 18 Musicians)
Michael Jackson (Off the Wall)
The Talking Heads (Remain in Light)
The Human League (Dare)
Michael Jackson (Thriller)
The Police (Synchronicity)
Prince (Purple Rain)
Dire Straits (Brothers in Arms)
Paul Simon (Graceland)

--my list ended up being 30% black. So just going off this, I think I probably agree with the assessment that the academy isn't giving black artists a completely fair shake. I think it's mostly due to the fact that the best albums from black artists tend to be especially wild and/or innovative, and the Grammys are pretty allergic to any sort of innovation.

This is a very good idea, actually.
Give me to look up the nominees and I'll post mine.