Zayn Malik isn’t happy with the selection process for GRAMMY nominees – and he’s letting the them know on Twitter.
“F–k the Grammys and everyone associated. Unless you shake hands and send gifts, there’s no nomination considerations,” the Nobody Is Listening singer tweeted. “Next year I’ll send you a basket of confectionary.”
His tweet initially stirred up some confusion among fans because he actually wasn’t eligible for any awards for the 2021 GRAMMYs – he released in album Nobody Is Listening in January of this year; the cut-off for GRAMMY eligibility was the end of September last year.
There was a whole debate among Twitter users about what could have possibly brought on Zayn’s Twitter rant – some pointed out the timeline for eligibility, while others wondered if it had anything to do with how he’s never been nominated for a GRAMMY. Still other wondered if he may have confused the GRAMMYs with another awards show. But, there were also fans who defended him, suggesting that he could be calling out the GRAMMYs on behalf of all artists.
Zayn later clarified his initial tweet, writing, “My tweet was not personal or about eligibility but was about the need for inclusion and the lack of transparency of the nomination process and the space that creates and allows favoritism, racism, and networking politics to influence the voting process.”
Zayn isn’t the first artist to criticize the GRAMMYs. After the nominees were announced, fans were surprised that The Weeknd and Halsey, who were eligible to be nominated, did not garner a single nod.
The Weeknd, whose record-breaking single, “Blinding Lights,” became arguably 2020’s biggest hit, went on Twitter to call out them out.
“The Grammys remain corrupt,” The Weeknd tweeted. “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”
He also discussed it further in an interview.
“I use a sucker punch as an analogy, because it just kind of hit me out of nowhere,” he tells Billboard. “I definitely felt… things. I don’t know if it was sadness or anger. I think it was just confusion.”
“I just wanted answers. Like, ‘What happened?’ We did everything right, I think,” he continues. “I’m not a cocky person. I’m not arrogant. People told me I was going to get nominated. The world told me, like, ‘This is it; this is your year.’ We were all very confused.”
Halsey also previously spoke out on Instagram Stories following the announcement of nominees.
“I’ve been thinking and wanted to choose my words carefully because a lot of people have extended sympathy and apology to me since the Grammy nominations,” she wrote.
“The Grammys are an elusive process,” Halsey continued. “It can often be about behind the scenes private performances, knowing the right people, campaigning through the grapevine, with the right handshake and ‘bribes’ that can be just ambiguous enough to pass as ‘not bribes.'”
She added that receiving a nomination also involves politics and business deals. She later gave The Weeknd a shoutout and echoed his sentiments calling for transparency in the selection process.
“It’s not always about the music or quality or culture,” she wrote. “While I am THRILLED for my talented friends who were recognized this year, I am hoping for more transparency or reform. But I’m sure this post will blacklist me anyway.”
Harvey Mason, Jr., Chair and Interim President/CEO of the Recording Academy, has previously talked about the unpredictable nature of the nomination system.
“The voting process is one that includes almost 12,000 people and these are professional music people. They vote on the music that they feel best represented excellence for that year,” he told Entertainment Tonight in January. “It’s really hard to predict from year to year what’s going to happen. And you never know who they’re going to vote for, so it can surprise you sometimes.”
“I’ve been in this job for about seven, eight months, so it’s definitely a priority for me to continue to evolve how we choose our nominees and our winners,” he added. “Our voting membership is continuing to grow and the momentum around that feels very positive.”
He also addressed The Weeknd issue.
“The Weeknd’s an incredible artist with great music and we have had issues like that in the past. I’m sure there will be people in the future that will be unhappy but we’ll always try to represent excellence, we’ll always try and get these things right,” he said.
