The Weeknd aired his grievances against the 63rd annual Grammy nominations on Twitter, calling the ceremony “corrupt.”
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Despite having one of the most successful years of his career, the Canadian pop singer oddly didn’t receive any nominations. His latest album After Hours reached No. 1 on Billboard charts as well as the lead single “Blinding Lights.” After the full list surfaced, the artist shared his feelings on being shut out via social media.
“The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…” he wrote on Twitter.
According to TMZ, sources claimed the “Starboy” singer was being punished for choosing to perform at the 2021 Super Bowl. theGrio reported The Weeknd shared the news that he would take the stage as headliner during the Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime show.
“We all grow up watching the world’s biggest acts playing the Super Bowl and one can only dream of being in that position,” said the singer according to the report. “I’m humbled, honored and ecstatic to be the center of that infamous stage this year.”
Grammy chief Harvey Mason Jr. responded to the allegations. Variety reported that the executive was also surprised by the shutout and denied the Super Bowl opportunity restricted The Weeknd from the Grammy stage.
“We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated,” said Mason. “I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration. We were thrilled when we found out he would be performing at the upcoming Super Bowl and we would have loved to have him also perform on the Grammy stage the weekend before.”
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The Grammy chief added further clarification.
“Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists. But as the only peer-voted music award, we will continue to recognize and celebrate excellence in music while shining a light on the many amazing artists that make up our global community. To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd’s performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have affected the nomination process.”
Still, the singer persisted in his claims. He shared on Instagram the alleged weeks of communications between himself and the Grammy team, planning a performance.
“Collaboratively planning a performance for weeks to not being invited?” he questioned on social media. “In my opinion zero nominations = you’re not invited!”
Pierre “Pee” Thomas, CEO of Quality Control Music, home of artists such as City Girls, Migos, and Cardi B, also shared his thoughts on the Grammy nominations on social media. His artist Lil Baby was nominated only for ‘Rap Performance,’ and none of the album categories despite his project My Turn debuting at No.1 and being certified double platinum just six months after its release.
“Whoever making the decisions at the Grammys “You all disconnected like a mf” he wrote on Twitter, using the hashtag #MyTurnAlbumOfTheYear.
theGrio reported Beyoncé is the most nominated artist with nine total nods, despite not having released an album. The award show will be hosted by Trevor Noah on January 31.
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