The Grammys Interim CEO Responds To The Weeknd’s Boycott! The Grammy awards ceremony is an annual event by the Recording Academy. This year’s award ceremony will be held Sunday March 14, 2021 – less than 24 hours. The 63rd GRAMMY Awards which will be hosted by Trevor Noah is set to air live on CBS. The Grammy nominations are submitted annually and with them come the inevitable snubs and subsequent reactions.
While most artists simply choose to pay no attention to the ceremony, holding the view that it does not give a true representation and assessment as far as the quality of a given year is concerned, others have taken a more aggressive approach. In the case of The Weeknd, whose After Hours project received a surprising snub from the Recording Academy, a total boycott was his ultimate course of action.
Following The Weeknd’s vow to boycott future Grammy submissions moving forward, the Recording Academy interim CEO Henry Mason Jr. has since come out with a response to the Canadian superstar’s decision. “We’re all disappointed when anyone is upset,” he said, in a statement reported by the New York Times. “But I will say that we are constantly evolving. And this year, as in past years, we are going to take a hard look at how to improve our awards process, including the nomination review committees.”
With such a general response, I doubt it is likely to do much in swaying The Weeknd’s decision. That said, he’s not the first artist to take such a hard-line stance against The Grammy Awards. Eminem has been the biggest critic of the ceremony, accusing them of manipulating artists to attend and even perform only to be snubbed completely when the trophies come. Justin Bieber has decided to take The Weeknd’s direction, vowing to skip The event after his recent Changes album was snubbed.
Despite the numerous high-profile snubs, one category that is being watched closely is that of the Best Rap Album, which sees nominations to Royce Da 5’9″, Nas, Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist, Jay Electronica, and D Smoke.
