That period of the year has come again, after a productive and much-talked about 11 months of surprises (2016 seems to be the year of many surprises), the Recording Academy announced the 59th annual Grammy nominations on December 6, 2016 but there was no mention of any Christian Hip Hop artist in any category
Flame, Da’ Truth, Lecrae and others have been nominated for the Grammys previously with the latter winning on two occasions.
The Grammys, undoubtedly the world’s standard of excellence in music, no doubt appreciates art and art creators that excel from writers, to producers to engineers to performers, etc.
But are there questions
- We had excellent Christian Hip Hop artists, with great music and messages, what happened to Christian hip hop at the Grammys?
- Are we thinking the organising committee members have enough exposure to the subgenre of hip hop, if we may call it one to know which Christian hip hop content qualifies?
- Do artists and fans especially need to see awards as not goals? Well artists like Trip Lee, Flame, KB, Bizzle say a lot that awards are not their motivation. (But joy comes when awards are received actually, but not the main source of joy all glory still goes to the giver of all gifts like Lecrae said in his Grammy speech few years ago).
It appears that the tweet by Kirk Franklin clearly defines what our thoughts should be
I'm so proud of all of my gospel music family today at the Grammys! It celebrates what we do, but never defines who we are. Let's Go!
— Kirk Franklin (@kirkfranklin) February 15, 2016
But Chance the Rapper got three awards at the recently held 59th Grammy awards.
Would we say the Christian Hip Hop community won ?
Please share your thoughts
Meanwhile relating to which album wins album of the year, the Recording Academy has this to say which also applies to the subject of this write up.
The Recording Academy’s stated mission — to reward “artistic achievement” — doesn’t always seem to square with the winners’ list. “Change is coming [to the industry]; there’s still work to do,” says Terry Jones, a producer and former trustee. “But until people are more open to that change, the results will be the same.”
“I understand that people might feel left out,” says Portnow. “But it’s really simple: Participate and vote, and then you’re part of the conversation. Not only do we encourage and welcome that,” he concludes, “we need it.”
