The 2021 Grammy Nominations are here, and some artists like Taylor Swift, Roddy Rich, and Beyonce are topping the nominations. But a few nominations are causing an uproar. 

The Weeknd wasn’t nominated- 

The Weeknd has had a huge year in 2020 and continues to shock us all. But as of last Tuesday morning, he faced a beatdown by the Recording Academy. Just a few days before the nominations were released he took home three American Music Awards. The odds for a Grammy nomination were heavily in his favor due to all his big hits; “Blinding Lights” and “In your eyes” 

He spoke out about this calling the Grammys “Corrupt. You own me, my fans and the industry transparency.” This three time Grammy winner could have a legitimate case. “Blinding lights” spent a record breaking 40 weeks on the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and went viral on several platforms. The song is from the Weeknd’s most recent album “After Hours,” which reached number 1 on the charts, and has accumulated 20 million streams since then. Although it is not confirmed, the possible reason he was snubbed was due to him picking performing at the Superbowl instead of the Grammy award show. This decision could have cost him his nominations. 

The CEO, Harvey Mason Jr,. did come out with a statement on the Weeknd snub after noticing there were a number of submissions stating, “We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration.”

Jacob Collier- 

Jacob Collier is a young emerging british musician. He hasn’t seen many of the charts, but is nominated for the Album of the Year for his album “Djesse Vol.3.” Some are questioning the nomination but many researchers are saying this one does add up. He has won 4 Grammys in the past. He has features on his album from T-pain to Daniel Caesar. He has also played at Coachella, and worked on part of Coldplay’s album. Along with Album of the year he is also nominated for best R&B song. 

Harry Styles- 

Although Harry Styles did receive several nominations, he was overlooked in many major categories.  As an example, Harry Styles new album “Fine Line” should have been nominated for Album of the Year. On the album, Styles was able to show his versatility, allowing for his music to reach a broader audience. It was also announced that his album has been added to the Rolling Stones “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list. Even though he was snubbed he still did extremely well. This year was the first year he’s been nominated. He is nominated for “Fine Line” for Best Pop Vocal Album, “Adore You” for Best Music Video, and “Watermelon Sugar” for Best Pop Solo Performance. You could say he still did extremely well, even though he was snubbed on several other major categories.. 

Weird Nominees for Best Rap Album- 

The Best Rap Album is usually filled with the best songs of the year and the most successful artists. In past years, the majority of the nominees for this award have been young artists with only a few older artists on the nominee list.  But this year artists such as Lil Baby, Juice World, Da Baby are not in the Best Rap Album despite their success this year. Instead they are celebrating people nearly twice their age with almost no records on the top charts, including Freddie Gibbs, Nas, and D Smoke. 

K-pop Also Snubbed- 

K-pop is growing in popularity rapidly across the world. Many people are saying K-pop group BTS’s snub was due to their fans overwhelming Trump’s campaign systems. The Trump Administration might play a role in this but it’s not confirmed. BTS hit big this year with their song “Dynamite”.  Despite them topping the charts, and accumulating over 625 million streams, this did not get a nomination for Record of the Year. They weren’t completely snubbed though, they did receive a nomination in the best pop duo. 

Others Celebs Speaking Out- 

Shortly after the nominations were released, Halsey spoke out about her snub, alleged bribes and other business dealings. A few months earlier Halsey released her album “Manic”, and was expected to be on the list. She also let her feelings out about her being overlooked as an artist. On an Instagram story she spoke out, “ It can often be about behind the scenes private performances, knowing the right people, campaigning through the grapevine, with just the right handshakes and ‘bribes’ that can be just ambitious enough to pass as ‘not-bribes.” 

Justin Beiber also spoke out against the snubs. This year he was not snubbed, receiving four nominations, but he did have a few questions pertaining to why all of his nominations were in the pop categories. On Instagram he wrote,  “I am very meticulous and intentional about my music. With that being said, I set out to make an R&B album. Changes was and is an R&B album. It is not being acknowledged as an R&B album which is very strange to me.” Even though it wasn’t exactly the nominations he was hoping for, he still is killing it in other categories. 

This year the Grammy nominations shocked a lot of us, but when don’t they shock us. In 10 years the same thing will probably be happening when artists are speaking out about being snubbed. Do you think these celebrities were snubbed?

The 63rd Grammy Awards will air Jan. 31 on CBS, with first-time host Trevor Noah.