The famous singer The Weeknd is still boycotting Grammys, even after the major changes made by the Academy. The singer says that “the trust has been broken”.
Last year, The Weeknd accused the Grammys of being corrupt as he didn’t get any nomination in the last year’s ceremony, despite his album “After Hours” becoming one of the best albums of 2020. Other than The Weeknd, various other celebrities have voiced against the Recording Academy. Halsey called the Grammy nomination process “elusive” and the former One Direction singer Zayn Malik called for an end to the “secret committees”.
In order to present themselves more transparent and equitable, Grammys decided to make some significant changes it the way it operates in the light of these accusations. The Academy has ended the “secret committee” and has changed the number of categories in which Academy members can vote. The organization has also added two new categories- Best Global Music Performance (Global Music Field) and Best Música Urbana Album (Latin Music Field).
However, despite these changes, The Weeknd is still not impressed by the Grammys. The singer told Variety, “The trust has been broken for so long between the Grammy organization and artists that it would be unwise to raise a victory flag.” He also stated that the recent move does mark “an important start.”
He added, “I think the industry and public alike need to see the transparent system truly at play for the win to be celebrated, but it’s an important start… I remain uninterested in being a part of the Grammys, especially with their own admission of corruption for all these decades. I will not be submitting in the future.”
Nonetheless, The Weeknd said that he hopes that the changes after corruption accusation will lead to positive outcomes, and the artists will get the respect they deserve. He said, “Even though I won’t be submitting my music, the Grammys’ recent admission of corruption will hopefully be a positive move for the future of this plagued award and give the artist community the respect it deserves with a transparent voting process.”