The 2021 Grammys have gone by, but someone was seemingly missing from the nominees list: The Weeknd. His album “After Hours” is an overall great album and screams Grammy nomination.
Multiple genres collide in the album, including R&B, new wave and dream pop. “After Hours” continues the nihilistic story that The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, has been creating since 2011. Tesfaye finally united the worlds of mainstream pop and the tones of his 2011 mixtape trilogy. Lyrically and musically, Tesfaye hit points that some artists will never begin to reach.
The Grammys have always supposed to have been one for making waves in the music industry as being the place to show off your music and accomplishments. It seems as though the Grammys just wants to make people angry every year.
The interim president of the Recording Academy, Harvey Mason Jr., came forward to say that even he did not know why The Weeknd did not get a single nomination for the popular album. Not getting any nominations is a “sucker punch,” according to Tesfaye. Not giving a single nomination to this album can be compared to not receiving an invite to join the festivities.
The winner of Album of the Year, “Folklore,” is a great album, but it pales in comparison to the beauty of “After Hours.” Swift has won three Album of the Year awards; Tesfaye has been nominated twice for the award, but has not won it.
Though the winner of these awards are not selected by the populace, it does not seem fair that an album that has an amazing appeal cannot even reach nomination status. Tesfaye called for transparency in the process of the awards and has told his label not to submit any more of his works for academy consideration.
The Recording Academy was also under fire last year from the former president and CEO of the academy, Deborah Dugan, who made many claims and allegations. The Recording Academy presents the awards, and according to Dugan, the selections were rigged and were given to artists that the board members represented. This could be the case once again, cheating a hard-working artist who deserved a nomination at least.
To some, this snub represents a very big wall separating the artists that are represented by the Recording Academy board members and the artists that have been snubbed over the years (Snoop Dogg, Post Malone, Mariah Carey, etc.). A snub this large brings to light the feelings that these awards are rigged and have nothing to do with popularity.
The Weeknd is one of the greatest modern artists and he should be recognized for it. “After Hours” will go down as one of the biggest snubs in the history of the Grammys.
