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Women are the winners of the 2021 Grammy nominations, but The Weeknd (and Justin Bieber) are the losers

PR

by Phoebe Repeti

PR

by Phoebe Repeti

Women have torn down the Grammy nominations this year, because well, let’s face it, it was only ever the patriarchy holding them back.

The inaugural 2021 Grammy’s nominations have just been announced, and giiiiirl, it’s a good year for women in music.

In this year’s nominations, women have absolutely dominated a number of categories including Country, Pop, and Best Rock Performance, which for the first time EVER, has an all lady line-up.

Grammys progressing
Photo: Getty Images

The 63rd Grammy’s event will take place on January 31, and amongst the nominees, Dua Lipa, Doja Cat, Phoebe Bridgers, Megan Thee Stallion, and Billie Eilish are just a few of the incredible women who have made the selections.

Yet on the other side of things, one glaring omission is The Weeknd. Didn’t After Hours and Blinding Lights come out just this year, smashing billboard and global TikTok feeds?

Staggeringly, The Weeknd received zero nominations this year – a revelation which has caused controversy to rear its internet head. The artist’s omission from this year’s awards is highly peculiar, especially after he recently swept the Soul/R&B categories at the American Music Awards and Blinding Lights claimed both the Best R&B trophy and Video of the Year at the MTV VMAs.

Some fans are speculating that The Weeknd’s (Abel Tesafaye) exclusion comes after he publicly criticised the Grammys for their lack of nuance in Hip Hop and R&B  genres.

“R&B and black music is such a wide variety. If they put us all into one category, I still think it’s not fair. We’ll see how it goes,” Tesfaye said in an interview for the Rolling Stone in September.

The Grammys have been under fire before for their lack of inclusivity, with industry leaders like Drake and Tyler, The Creator echoing similar criticisms of ignorance.

“It sucks that whenever we — and I mean guys that look like me — do anything that’s genre-bending or that’s anything they always put it in a rap or urban category. I don’t like that ‘urban’ word — it’s just a politically correct way to say the n-word to me,” Tyler said in his Grammys acceptance speech.

You would think, however, that the Grammys were catching on, especially after they recently decided to finally rename the controversial ‘Urban’ category to ‘progressive R&B’.

But industry artists still have their doubts. Just this morning, The Weeknd himself responded to the news, claiming the Grammys were “corrupt.”

Not sure about this one here, but it doesn’t look good.

Justin Bieber also had something to say after the nomination announcements, criticising the Grammys’ inability to accurately classify his album Changes as R&B.

Bieber said it was “very strange” that Changes was nominated for Best Pop Album.

“Considering from the chords to the melodies to the vocal style all the way down to the hip hop drums that were chosen it is undeniably, unmistakably an R&B album!” he described.

 

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For 63 years the Grammys have held institutional power of the music industry, naming and categorising genres as they please. But perhaps, this year, we are finally seeing their grip loosening, as they struggle to keep up with the world’s ever-evolving sounds.

Still, big ups to the women who smashed it this year, but it seems the Grammys still has a way to go.

Check out the full list of categories and nominees below.

Album of the Year:
Jhené Aiko – Chilombo
Black Pumas – Black Pumas (Deluxe Edition)
Coldplay – Everyday Life
Jacob Collier Djesse Vol. 3
HAIM – Women In Music Pt. III
Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
Post Malone – Hollywood’s Burning
Taylor Swift – Folklore

Record of the Year:
Beyoncé – “Black Parade”
Black Pumas – “Colors”
DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch – “Rockstar”
Doja Cat – “Say So”
Billie Eilish – “Everything I Wanted”
Dua Lipa – “Don’t Start Now”
Post Malone – “Circles”
Megan Thee Stallion feat. Beyoncé – “Savage”

Song of the Year:
Beyoncé – “Black Parade”
Roddy Ricch – “The Box”
Taylor Swift – “Cardigan”
Post Malone – “Circles”
Dua Lipa – “Don’t Start Now”
Billie Eilish – “Everything I Wanted”
H.E.R. – “I Can’t Breathe”
JP Saxe feat. Julia Michaels – “If the World Was Ending”

Best New Artist:
Ingrid Andress
Phoebe Bridgers
Chika
Noah Cyrus
D Smoke
Doja Cat
Kaytranada
Megan Thee Stallion

Best Solo Pop Performance:
Justin Bieber – “Yummy”
Doja Cat – “Say So”
Billie Eilish – “Everything I Wanted”
Dua Lipa – “Don’t Start Now”
Harry Styles – “Watermelon Sugar”
Taylor Swift – “cardigan”

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny & Tainy – “Un Dia (One Day)”
Justin Bieber feat. Quavo – “Intentions”
BTS – “Dynamite”
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain on Me”
Taylor Swift feat. Bon Iver – “exile”

Best Pop Vocal Album:
Justin Bieber – Changes
Lady Gaga – Chromatic
Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia
Harry Styles – Fine Line
Taylor Swift – folklore

Best Dance Recording:
Diplo & Sidepiece – “On My Mind”
Disclosure feat. Aminé & slowthai – “My High”
Flume feat. Toro y Moi – “The Difference”
Jayda G – “Both of Us”
Kaytranada feat. Kali Uchis – “10%”

Best Dance/Electronic Album:
Arca – KiCk i
Baauer – Planet’s Mad
Disclosure – Energy
Kaytranada – Bubba
Madeon – Good Faith

Best Rock Performance:
Fiona Apple – “Shameika”
Big Thief – “Not”
Phoebe Bridgers – “Kyoto”
HAIM – “The Steps”
Brittany Howard – “Stay High”
Grace Potter – “Daylight”

Best Rock Song:
Phoebe Bridgers – “Kyoto”
Tame Impala – “Lost in Yesterday”
Big Thief – “Not”
Fiona Apple – “Shameika”
Brittany Howard – “Stay High”

Best Rock Album:
Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death
Michal Kiwanuka – Kiwanuka
Grace Potter – Daylight
Sturgill Simpson – Sound & Fury
The Strokes – The New Abnormal

Best Alternative Music Album:
Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Beck – Hyperspace
Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher
Brittany Howard – Jamie
Tame Impala – The Slow Rush

Best Metal Performance:
Body Count – “Bum-Rush”
Code Orange – “Underneath”
In This Moment – “The In-Between”
Poppy – “Bloodmoney”
Power Trip – “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe) – Live”

Best R&B Performance:
Jhené Aiko feat. John Legend – “Lighting & Thunder”
Beyoncé – “Black Parade”
Jacob Collier feat. Mahalia & Ty Dolla $ign – “All I Need”
Brittany Howard – “Goat Head”
Emily King – “See Me”

Best R&B Song:
Rober Glasper feat. H.E.R. – “Better Than I Imagine”
Beyoncé – “Black Parade”
Tiana Major9 & Earthgang – “Collide”
Chloe x Halle – “Do It”
Skip Marley & H.E.R. – “Slow Down”

Best Progressive R&B Album:
Jhené Aiko – Chilombo
Chloe x Halle – Ungodly Hour
Free Nationals – Free Nationals
Robert Grasper – Fuck Yo Feelings
Thundercat – It Is What It Is

Best Rap Performance:
Big Sean feat. Nipsey Hussle – “Deep Reverence”
DaBaby – “Bop”
Jack Harlow – “What’s Poppin”
Lil Baby – The Bigger Picture
Megan Thee Stallion feat. Beyoncé – “Savage”
Pop Smoke – “Dior”

Best Melodic Rap Performance:
DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch – “Rockstar”
Drake feat. Lil Durk – “Laugh Now, Cry Later”
Anderson .Paak – “Lockdown”
Roddy Ricch – “The Box”
Travis Scott – “Highest in the Room”

Best Rap Song:
Lil Baby – “The Bigger Picture”
Roddy Ricch – “The Box”
Drake feat. Lil Durk – “Laugh Now, Cry Later”
DaBaby feat. Roddy Ricch – “Rockstar”
Megan Thee Stallion feat. Beyoncé – “Savage”

Best Rap Album:
D Smoke – Black Habits
Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist – Alfredo
Jay Electronica – A Written Testimony
Nas – King’s Disease
Royce Da 5’9” – The Allegory

Best Folk Album:
Bonny Light Horseman – Bonny Light Horseman
Leonard Cohen – Thanks For the Dance
Laura Marling – Song For Our Daughter
The Secret Sisters – Saturn Return
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – All the Good Times

Best Americana Album:
Courtney Marie Andrews – Old Flowers
Hiss Holden Messenger – Terms of Surrender
Sarah Jarosz – World on the Ground
Marcus King – El Dorado
Lucinda Williams – Good Souls Better Angels

Best American Roots Performance:
Black Pumas – “Colors”
Bonny Light Horseman – “Deep in Love”
Brittany Howard – “Short and Sweet”
Norah Jones and Mavis Staples – “I’ll Be Gone”
John Prine – “I Remember Everything”

Best Comedy Album:
Tiffany Haddish – Black Mitzvah
Patton Oswalt – I Love Everything
Jim Gaffigan – The Pale Tourist
Bill Burr – Paper Tiger
Jerry Seinfeld – 23 Hours to Kill

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media:
Max Richter – Ad Astra
Kamasi Washington – Becoming
Hildur Guonadóttir – Joker
Thomas Newman – 1917
John Williams – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best Song Written For Visual Media:
Taylor Swift – “Beautiful Ghosts”
Brandi Carlile – “Carried Me With You”
Idina Menzel & Aurora – “Into the Unknown”
Billie Eilish – “No Time to Die”
Cynthia Erivo – “Stand Up”

Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media:
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Bill & Ted Face the Music
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Frozen 2
JoJo Rabbit

Best Music Film:
Beastie Boys – Beastie Boys Story
Beyoncé – Black Is King
Freestyle Love Supreme – We Are Freestyle Love Supreme
Linda Ronstadt – Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice
ZZ Top – That Little Ol’ Band From Texas

Best Music Video:
Beyoncé – “Brown Skin Girl”
Future featuring Drake – “Life Is Good”
Anderson .Paak – “Lockdown”
Harry Styles – “Adore You”
Woodkid – “Goliath”

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical:
Jack Antonoff
Dan Auerbach
Dave Cobb
Flying Lotus
Andrew Wyatt

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