But will they reply to The Weeknd…

It’s definitely fair to say that the 2021 Grammy nominations have been flooded with controversy ever since their announcement, with countless artists slamming the awards and the seeming inability of the academy to get the categories right.

One such artist who’s spoken out is none other than the Biebs himself, making vocal his issue with his album Changes being categorised as a pop album, when he considers his music to be R&B. However, what he probably wasn’t expecting is that Interim president/CEO Harvey Mason Jr. would respond, sitting down with Pitchfork for an interview regarding the nominations process.

Trying to be as amiccable as possible, the Grammys head honcho said “We always want to respect the artist’s wishes. Art’s a funny thing because it’s so subjective, and at the Academy our goal is to honor excellence. At some point, decisions have to be made as to how to compare different things, and it is a very tough process and one I don’t think we get right every time. We use our best efforts to get people where they wanna be and where they should be and try to evaluate them as best as we can.

“If he felt that was that type of a record, then, you know… I’ll just leave it at that. We try really hard to make sure people’s art is respected and evaluated in the right category.”

Probably not an answer the Biebs is gonna be happy with, but at least he got a response. The Weeknd has essentially been on a warpath ever since being snubbed for his smash album After Hours and number one song ‘Blinding Lights,’ making several instagram posts calling out the Grammys. Of course, he’s yet to get a proper reply.

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The whole controversy has caused numerous artists to speak out on the injustice, with Toronto Don Drake going so far as to completely condemn the Grammys on his Instagram story, saying “I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards and just accept that what once was the highest form of recognition may no longer matter to the artists that exist now and the ones that come after.” He also urged artists to start something new that they can “build up over time and pass on to the generations to come.” It seems other artists agree, with fellow rap superstar Nicki Minaj reposting the story as well as numerous others.

It seems no matter what, the Grammys continue to miss the mark and get it wrong. Hell, even Elton John, the GOAT of all GOATs, thinks The Weeknd was snubbed, so what does that tell you? It’ll be interesting to see if the Grammys make any changes, but probably not knowing their record.