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The Weeknd -

The Weeknd, AKA Abel Tesfaye, has been one of the loudest voices of criticism and even announced that he would no longer be submitting his music to the famed awards show. He was not present at the 2022 ceremony, even though he and fellow absentee Kanye "Ye" West picked up the Best Melodic Rap Performance award for their collab on the 'Donda' track 'Hurricane.'  In a hilarious act of rebellion, on the night of the 2022 Grammys Tesfaye was very present on Twitter, making his name and his music trending topics and tweeting, "wow what a day … today belongs to us." Coincidence? We think not.  

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Quavo -

The Grammys have been criticized for being an antiquated institution that is too out of touch to properly engage with genres like rap and hip hop. Quavo, of the highly-successful rap trio Migos, expressed this very sentiment in conversation with TMZ. He said that the Grammys mean nothing and that it's time to create a new award that appreciates the real music that's being made "in the streets." Quavo referred to J. Prince, the founder of Rap-A-Lot Records, who called for artists like Kanye "Ye" West, Drake, and Nicki Minaj to put on a competing concert on the same night of the Grammys. 

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Drake -

Drake has made his skepticism clear for a few years now. In December, it was announced that he had withdrawn his two 2022 Grammy nominations. According to Variety, Drake and his management made the decision to withdraw his nomination for Best Rap Album ('Certified Lover Boy') and Best Rap Performance (for 'Way 2 Sexy'), and though it came late in the game, the Grammys honored the request. 

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Drake -

While accepting the Grammy award for Best Rap Song in 2019, Drake had a message for aspiring musicians: "I wanna let you know we're playing in an opinion-based sport not a factual-based sport." He also alluded to the Recording Academy's problematic track record with hip hop and artists of color, and emphasized that success is in the fan response.

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Drake -

The show silenced him and the broadcast cut to commercial before he finished speaking. Ken Ehrich had told the New York Times a week earlier that Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Childish Gambino declined to perform during the event, but framed this "problem in the hip-hop world" as something that happens "when they don't take home the big prize." Drake proved that false!

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The Weeknd -

In a historic 2021 move, the Grammys ditched the small, anonymous review committees, and started basing nominations solely on thousands of votes from the academy's voting members. Many credit The Weeknd with stirring this change, but the singer said he will continue to boycott the show. "The trust has been broken for so long between the Grammy organization and artists that it would be unwise to raise a victory flag," he told Variety. He admitted it's "an important start" but added that we must see the transparency work before we can celebrate it. For now, he says, "I remain uninterested in being a part of the Grammys, especially with their own admission of corruption for all these decades. I will not be submitting [my music] in the future."

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The Weeknd - In the 2021 Grammy nominations, it became shockingly apparent that The Weeknd, whose music has dominated 2020, was completely shut out. “The Grammys remain corrupt,” he tweeted. “You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”

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The Weeknd -

Some suspected that the reason for his snub was because of reportedly tense negotiations over whether he could play at both the January 31 Grammy ceremony and the Super Bowl halftime show a week later. They’d agreed he’d play both, but that’s obviously not going to happen now.

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The Weeknd - Recording Academy chief Harvey Mason, Jr. responded to claims of corruption, saying that he too was surprised that The Weeknd did not receive any nominations, and he denied that their negotiations had any role in the snub, Variety reports.

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The Weeknd - Highlighting his frustration and hinting at foul play, The Weeknd tweeted again, "Collaboratively planning a performance for weeks to not being invited? In my opinion zero nominations = you’re not invited!"

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Drake -

Drake, who has criticized the Grammys in the past, came to The Weeknd's defense on Instagram: "I think we should stop allowing ourselves to be shocked every year by the disconnect between impactful music and these awards and just accept that what once was the highest form of recognition may no longer matter to the artists that exist now and the ones that come after,” he wrote. “It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just can’t change their ways.”

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Drake -

He added that he had assumed The Weeknd was going to be nominated for album or song of the year, "along with countless other reasonable assumptions," mentioning artists like Popcaan, Lil Baby, Pop Smoke, and PartyNextDoor, "and it just never goes that way." He suggested someone create a new award show to build up "and pass on to the generations to come.”

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Zayn Malik -

Former One Direction member Zayn Malik was another artist completely snubbed by the awards. He aired his frustrations online: “F–k the grammys and everyone associated. Unless you shake hands and send gifts, there’s no nomination considerations,” he tweeted on March 9. “Next year I’ll send you a basket of confectionary.”

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Tiffany Haddish -

Tiffany Haddish revealed that she had been invited to host the Grammys Awards Premiere ceremony but turned down the offer after being told she would have to pay her own way and receive no compensation in return. “I don’t know if this might mean I might not get nominated ever again, but I think it’s disrespectful,” Haddish told Variety, adding that, "It’s like a guy asking you on a date but telling you that you have to pay for it.” She's nominated for her second Grammy this year for best comedy album for Netflix’s 'Black Mitzvah.'  

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Tiffany Haddish -

Recording Academy interim chief Harvey Mason, jr. posted a public apology on social media, and said he'd apologized to Haddish personally as well. He claimed he was not aware of the offer made. “I’m frustrated by that decision," he said, "I’m part of the creative community and I know what that feels like, and it’s not right.” 

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Halsey - After not receiving a single nomination for her 2020 album ‘Manic’ for the 2021 Grammys, Halsey took to Instagram on November 28 to air her concerns. She described the Grammys as an "elusive process" that is often more 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.'”

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Halsey - She added that “committing to exclusive TV performances” could secure you nominations more than the music itself. “It’s not always about the music or quality or culture." She supported The Weeknd, as well as her friends who received nominations, and added, "I am hoping for more transparency or reform. But I’m sure this post will blacklist me anyway.”

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Nicki Minaj - Also following the 2021 nominations, Nicki Minaj aired her own grievances about the awards show. “Never forget the Grammys didn’t give me my best new artist award when I had 7 songs simultaneously charting on billboard & bigger first week than any female rapper in the last decade—went on to inspire a generation,” Minaj tweeted, adding, “They gave it to the white man Bon Iver.”

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Nicki Minaj -

At the 2012 ceremony, she had made Grammy history as the first solo female rapper to perform at the ceremonies, premiering ‘Roman Holiday.’ However, her exorcism-themed performance and the fake Pope she had on the red carpet were controversial with the American Catholic League…

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Nicki Minaj - In 2019, Minaj came forward about her mistreatment at the 2012 ceremony, adding that she “was bullied into staying quiet for 7 years out of fear," she tweeted. She claimed that Grammys executive producer Ken Ehrlich had told her not to perform despite the fact that she had already done so much promo for the event. She went through with her performance, but, she claims, Ehrlich proceeded to blackball her career, which she says is why she never won a Grammy.

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Ariana Grande -

If the name Ken Ehrlich sounds familiar, it’s probably because Ariana Grande also called him out on Twitter in 2019, the year she neither performed at nor attended the Grammys due to a disagreement about what song she would perform.

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Ariana Grande -

When word got out about Grande not performing despite having been scheduled to, Ehrich went to the press and claimed, “she felt it was too late for her to pull something together for sure. And it’s too bad. She’s a great artist.” Though that wasn’t her side of the story…

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Ariana Grande - She tweeted in response to his comments, “I’ve kept my mouth shut but now you’re lying about me. I can pull together a performance over night and you know that, Ken. It was when my creativity & self expression was stifled by you, that I decided not to attend.” She added that she offered three songs, and criticized them for treating music like a game.

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Wiz Khalifa -

After the 2021 nominees were announced, Wiz Khalifa went on a tweet-spree. Responding to a tweet that asked, “Do you think Abel was snubbed?” he responded, “Yea that's a surprise but [it's] politics. If you don't show up to their parties they don't throw your name around.”

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Wiz Khalifa - In response to someone tweeting, "I stopped watching the Grammys when they made it normal to not televise hip/hop & rap categories," Khalifa responded, "Yea that sh*t is crazy. N**** get all dressed up to find out ya sh*t got read during a commercial break." He also dubbed the award show the "Scammys."

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Justin Bieber -

Despite his four nominations for 2021, Justin Bieber also took to social media to criticize the Recording Academy for nominating his album 'Changes' for Best Pop Vocal Album, the "pop" part being his main grievance.

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Justin Bieber - "To the Grammys, I am flattered to be acknowledged and appreciated for my artistry," he wrote on social media. "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."

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Justin Bieber -

He went on to say everything "from the chords to the melodies to the vocal style all the way down to the hip hop drums that were chosen it is undeniably, unmistakably an R&B Album!" He also clarified he loves pop music and is still grateful.

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Frank Ocean - The artist wrote an open letter addressed to longtime creative forces behind the Grammys, producer Ken Ehrlich and writer David Wild, with the intention to make it clear that he did not submit his incredible 2016 album 'Blonde' for consideration by choice, because he doesn't think the awards represent artists like him.

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Frank Ocean - In the letter posted to his Tumblr, Ocean spoke about how real success is not being handed an award on TV. He also dragged them for awarding Taylor Swift's '1989' Album of the Year over Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp a Butterfly,' and said he's open to talk about the "cultural bias and general nerve damage" of the awards.

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Lorde - Though Lorde was nominated for Album of the Year in 2018, she was absent from the performances. According to Variety, the Grammys approached Lorde about performing with other artists but not solo, and Lorde declined. Apparently the other Album of the Year contenders—all male—were offered solo spots performing songs from their respective nominated albums.

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Lorde -

The artist's mother tweeted a section of a New York Times article with the caption "this says it all," and it read: "Of the 899 people to be nominated for Grammy awards in the past six years, only nine per cent were women. (This year, Lorde is the only woman nominated for album of the year; she is not scheduled to perform.)"

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Kanye West -

In 2012, his albums 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy' and 'Watch the Throne' were both snubbed from the Album of the Year nomination. In concert, Kanye said, "Since when was making art about getting rich? ... Remind me again why we in this sh*t? Remind me again why the Grammys [can] suck my d*ck."

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Kanye West -

He's taken many swipes at the Recording Academy in his career, and notably hasn't shown up since 2015 when he jokingly almost stormed the stage after Beck beat Beyonce for Album of the Year. In an interview with E!, however, he said, "The Grammys, if they want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We aren't going to play with them no more."

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Kanye West -

In 2020, Kanye shocked his Twitter followers when he shared, as part of his rant against the music industry, a video of himself peeing on one of the 21 Grammys he's won throughout his career. So, his opinions are clear.

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Dua Lipa -

A year after the #GrammysSoMale hashtag and the comment from Neil Portnow, then-longtime chief executive of the Recording Academy, about women in the industry needing to "step up," Dua Lipa made a thinly veiled criticism while accepting the Best New Artist award.

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Dua Lipa -

She gave a shout-out to her fellow female nominees and said, "I guess this year we really stepped up." She noted backstage that the number of female artists nominated was a huge difference from previous years, and "it's a change we hope to see for many years to come."

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Jay-Z and Beyoncé -

The artists haven't shown up to the Grammys for a few years either, not even to collect their award. Jay-Z boycotted the ceremony in 1999, as he told MTV News back then, "I didn't think they gave the rightful respect to hip-hop." He couldn't believe DMX wasn't nominated that year.

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DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince -

Will Smith and DJ Jeff Townes won the first Grammy for Best Rap Performance in 1989, but they also boycotted the event that year due to racial inequality within the academy. They told ET they didn't have a problem with the awards, but rather the design of the show.

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Public Enemy -

The hip-hop group also participated in the 1989 boycott, along with Salt-N-Pepa, Slick Rick, and Russell Simmons, but they did it again in 1991 when they were nominated for Best Rap Performance but found out that this category wasn't televised.

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Inside controversy -

Former chief executive of the Recording Academy Deborah Dugan detailed accusations of harassment, favoritism, and bullying within the Academy after having just worked there five months, GQ reports. The Academy tried to throw their own accusations at her, but she launched a 44-page complaint that accused them of retaliating against her "for uncovering misconduct including sexual harassment, voting irregularities and rampant conflicts of interest among board members."

See also: The youngest and oldest Grammy winners ever

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