The Weeknd has doubled down on his decision to no longer enter his music for future Grammy consideration, despite the Recording Academy’s announcement to eliminate “secret committees”.
“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,” he said in a May 3 statement to The New York Times.
The Weeknd, born Abel Tesfaye, also gave a quote to Variety: “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,” he said, noting that he remains “uninterested” in Grammys participation.
Last week, the Recording Academy announced a rule change in its nomination process that eliminates the so-called “secret” nomination-review committees.
While the Academy did not give an “admission of corruption” in announcing the rule change, interim Grammy chief Harvey Mason Jr told Variety in a separate interview that he had been working to eliminate the committees for months before The Weeknd’s highly publicised award snub, where his chart-topping album, After Hours, received no recognition when nominations were announced last November.
“Any time an artist, especially one of that stature, calls our process into question or thinks something is unfair… the Academy is of course going to be affected by that, and want to work to make things better,” he said.
The Independent has reached out to the Recording Academy for further comment.
“The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans, and the industry transparency,” Tesfaye wrote on social media at the time.
At the time, Mason stressed that the move was the unbiased decision of the nomination-review committees. “There’s no agendas in there, there’s no ‘let’s snub this person or that person,’” he told Variety after the nominations were announced in November. “It’s about, ‘Let’s try and find excellence.’”
