"Blinding Lights" singer The Weeknd announces he is boycotting the Grammy Awards going forward.

<a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/men/the-weeknd-facts-merch-lyrics-after-hours" target="_blank">The Weeknd</a> is officially boycotting the Grammy Awards, accoridng to a recent statement to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/11/arts/music/grammys-the-weeknd-beyonce.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimes" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.

Back in November&nbsp;2020, The Weeknd fans were going wild over the Grammys shutting the pop artist out of 2021&rsquo;s nominations. This snub was in spite of the XO star&#39;s highly succesful&nbsp;After Hours&nbsp;studio album, which <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/music/the-weeknd-spotify-wrapped-2020" target="_blank">took Spotify&#39;s top 2020&nbsp;spot the&nbsp;with the song&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/music/the-weeknd-spotify-wrapped-2020" target="_blank">Blinding Lights</a>.&nbsp;At the time the artist had little to say about the ordeal, appearing to be mostly unbothered by the lack of Recording Academy recognition. He stated in a <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/9516909/the-weeknd-xo-records-billboard-cover-story-interview-2021/" target="_blank">Billboard profile</a> at the end of January: &ldquo;I personally don&rsquo;t care anymore. I have three Grammys, which mean nothing to me now, obviously. It&rsquo;s not like, &lsquo;Oh, I want the Grammy!&rsquo; It&rsquo;s just that this happened, and I&rsquo;m down to get in front of the fire, as long as it never happens again. I suck at giving speeches anyways. Forget awards shows.&rdquo;

Fast forward to today, <a href="https://www.lofficiel.co.uk/girls/ariana-grande-superbowl-the-weeknd-perfomance-prize-when-cost" target="_blank">the singer-songwriter</a>&nbsp;announces to&nbsp;The New York Times that he will no longer be participating in the awards show moving forward. This decision comes amidst controversy regarding the Grammy organization&#39;s secretive voting system and biases against both Black and female artists. The Weeknd told&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/11/arts/music/grammys-the-weeknd-beyonce.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimes" target="_blank">Times</a> &ldquo;Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.&rdquo;

In response, the Recording Academy&#39;s interim chief executive Harvey Mason Jr. stated that &ldquo;we&rsquo;re all disappointed when anyone is upset. But I will say that we are constantly evolving.&rdquo; According to the interim chief, the Recording Academy is seeking internal improvements.&nbsp;He went on to say that &ldquo;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.&rdquo;&nbsp;Mason may indeed have good intentions, but The Weeknd is far from the only successful musician to raise concerns over the Grammys&#39;&nbsp;selective practices. <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/music/meek-mill-launched-his-own-music-label-with-jay-z" target="_blank">Jay-Z</a>, <a href="https://www.lofficielusa.com/pop-culture/kim-kardashian-officially-files-for-divorce-from-kanye-west" target="_blank">Kanye West</a>, Zayn Malik, and Frank Ocean have all&nbsp;<a href="http://Mason may indeed have good intentions, but the Weeknd is far from the only successful musician to raise concerns over the Grammy’s selective practices. Jay-z, Kanye West, and Frank Ocean have all also come out in protest of the Recording Academy’s lack of diverse representation on their internal committees.">come out in protest </a>of the Recording Academy&rsquo;s lack of diverse representation on its internal committees.

The issue is also (predictably) nothing new. Back in 2016 when <a href="https://www.lofficiel.co.uk/pop-culture/Spotify-Instagram-wrapped-2020-taylor-swift-the-weeknd-and-bad-bunny" target="_blank">Taylor Swift</a> took home the Grammy for Album of The Year over now Pulitzer Prize-winning Kendrick Lamar, <a href="http://musiqology.com/blog/2016/02/22/kendrick-lamar-and-the-structural-limits-of-black-excellence/" target="_blank">music scholar John Vilanova</a> wrote &ldquo;Despite the fact that hip hop is arguably the most popular music of our time, when it comes time for the &#39;real awards,&#39;&nbsp;non-white artists are almost never recognized. In the last 10 years, there have been 17 nonwhite <a href="https://www.lofficielarabia.com/music/how-music-video-director-grant-singer-is-redefining-the-art-form" target="_blank">artists</a> nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.&rdquo;&nbsp;

Seven years later, Vilanova&rsquo;s qualms have not been addressed, as reflected by a statement uncomfortably similar to his 2016 one made by The Weeknd to <a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/9516909/the-weeknd-xo-records-billboard-cover-story-interview-2021/" target="_blank">Billboard</a>: &ldquo;In the last 61 years of the Grammys, only 10 Black artists have won album of the year. I don&rsquo;t want to make this about me. That&rsquo;s just a fact.&rdquo; How the Grammy organization plans to resolve these issues remains unclear.

The Grammys Snubbed the Weeknd, Now He is Snubbing Them Back

Recommended posts for you

Fashion

An Inside Look at Thom Browne’s 10,000 Hour Creations for Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo

Pop culture

7 Things To Know About 'Emily in Paris' Star Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu

Pop culture

Charli XCX Takes on New York in Style Ahead of Saturday Night Live

Pop culture

F1's Hottest Drivers, On and Off The Track

Fashion

New NYC Store Openings in 2024

Film & TV

Everything to Know About the New 'Dune' TV Series, a Must-Watch

Travel & Living

The Most Chic Places to Have Thanksgiving Dinner in NYC

Fashion

Carolina Herrera's Resort 2025 Collection Captures the 'Intensity' of Mexico City