Ultimatums and secret deals: All the 'corrupt' Grammys drama you need to know ahead of today's ceremony.

by Chelsea McLaughlin March 15, 2021

The 2021 Grammy Awards are mere hours away, but the awards ceremony hasn't been able to shake off criticism over its controversial nominations.

The Grammy nominations are not new to controversy and criticism. Over a lack of diversity, over consistently overlooking particular artists and music, over placing mostly 'pop' artists of colour in 'urban' categories, etc.

It's difficult to recall a year where the nominations were routinely accepted as fair by not just the artists, but their fans too.

Watch: In 2017, Adele dedicated her Grammy win to Beyonce. Post continues below video.

But in 2021, this has reached a peak.

Beyonce leads the nominations with nine in total, followed by Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Roddy Rich who scored six nominations each. Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion and Justin Bieber are also up in multiple categories.

As always, there are noticeable snubs - and this is mostly where the drama is.

The Weeknd - who released a critically acclaimed album and whose single 'Blinding Lights' was the sound of the year (and that TikTok dance you've definitely done in secret) - did not receiveanynominations.

Listen: Mamamia's The Spill on the Grammy nominations. Post continues below audio.

Other snubs included Fiona Apple'sFetch the Bolt Cutters,Halsey'sManic,Kiwi artist Benee (whose song'Supalonely' was another lockdown and TikTok banger) and K-pop groups BTS and BLACKPINK.

We don't know how/if the controversy will rear its head during the show, but just in case... well, here's what you need to know.

"The Grammys remain corrupt."

The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, demanded transparency from the Grammys after receiving zero nominations in November.

"The Grammys remain corrupt," he wrote across his social media platforms.

"You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency."

He later said: "Collaboratively planning a performance for weeks to not being invited? In my opinion zero nominations = you're not invited!"

He received some big name support too, with Elton John saying 'Blinding Lights'was his Song and Record of the Year.

In response to the nomination announcements, Nicki Minaj tweeted:

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. They gave it to the white man Bon Iver. #PinkFriday

— Mrs. Petty (@NICKIMINAJ)

(Minor correction: Bon Iver is a band. Minaj is referring to frontman Justin Vernon).

Ahead of the ceremony, The Weeknd said he would permanently boycott the Grammys.

"Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys," he told the New York Times.

A stranger reaction to November's nominations came from Justin Bieber, who lamented the fact he was nominated for Best pop solo performance for 'Yummy' and Best pop vocal album forChanges(he also got Best country group performance and best pop group performance nods).

"To the Grammys, I am flattered to be acknowledged and appreciated for my artistry. I am very meticulous and intentional about my music. With that being said, I set out to make an R&B album.Changeswas and is an R&B album," Bieber wrote on Instagram.

"It is not being acknowledged as an R&B album, which is very strange to me. I grew up admiring R&B music and wished to make a project that would embody that sound. For this not to be put into that category feels weird, considering 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!"

The response to this is best summed up by two takes on Twitter:

"Y'all Justin said he is TIRED of his blackness being erased," one user said, with 38,000 likes.

"They typecast him into pop like how they typecast black pop artists into R&B and 'urban'," another responded.

Meanwhile, Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams was not nominated for her debut solo album 'Petals of Armor', nor was Halsey for her third studio albumManic.

While likely disappointed (Halsey criticised the Grammys last year after her song 'Without Me' was also snubbed), both were more celebratory of the fact 2021 is the first year that all the nominees for Best rock performance are women.

stop sending me sorry's for not getting a nom LOL pmore been nominated lots and even won. thank you for your sweetness but stop! the women leading the rock and alt nom's are THE story and the moment.

— hayley from Paramore 🌺 (@yelyahwilliams)

On March 9, 2021, Zayn Malik criticised what he perceived as bribery and flattery for Grammy nominations.

Fuck the grammys and everyone associated. Unless you shake hands and send gifts, there’s no nomination considerations. Next year I’ll send you a basket of confectionary.

— zayn (@zaynmalik)

His latest album, released in January, missed the cut-off period for this year's show (though it could be nominated for 2022) so people were quick to assume he was either shading former bandmate Harry Styles or defending other stars.

He then clarified it wasn't personal, but instead because of the lack of transparency about the nomination process (more on that soon!)

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 netwokring politics to influence the voting process

— zayn (@zaynmalik)

Then just hours ahead of the show, Malik said he intended to keep speaking out on this.

'We need to make sure we are honoring and celebrating 'creative excellence' of ALL," he wrote.

. @recordingacad are moving in inches and we need to move in miles. I’m keeping the pressure on & fighting for transparency & inclusion. We need to make sure we are honoring and celebrating “creative excellence” of ALL. End the secret committees. Until then ... #fuckthegrammys

— zayn (@zaynmalik)

Another controversy follows the nomination of producer Lukasz 'Dr Luke' Gottwald under the pseudonym of Tyson Trax, for his work on Doja Cat's 'Say So'.

The 2018 Grammys invited Kesha to perform a song about surviving abuse at the ceremony, after Kesha alleged sexual abuse by Dr Luke (he denied all allegations, and sued for defamation).

Nominee Fiona Apple told The Guardian she was furious about this.

"I keep going back to them putting Kesha on stage like, 'We believe you' – and I believe her – then two years later, f***ing Tyson Trax. Not to go back to that word, but it's bullshit... I don't know if anybody who's nominated can help having the thought: what would I do If I won? My vision was that I would just get up there with a sledgehammer and I wouldn't say anything, I would take the Grammy and smash it into enough pieces to share and I would invite all the ladies up. My second thought was I wonder if I can get all these ladies to boycott this shit because of Dr Luke."

An ultimatum and the Super Bowl.

The Weeknd has been nominated 10 times and won three Grammys in the past, making his snubs in 2021 even more strange. And he's also been sweeping all the other award shows, including taking home Best R&B trophy and Video of the Year at the MTV VMAs.

According toRolling Stone, part of the snub may be due to the fact the Recording Academy reclassified its R&B categories. In June, the Grammys announced it was renaming the Best Urban Contemporary Album award - the category where The Weeknd has won 2/3 of his awards - to Best Progressive R&B Album.

But the change hasn't stopped the criticism of the category which rapper Tyler, the Creator once called a "catchall" for Black artists across multiple genres.

But, there could be more to The Weeknd's snub.

The Weeknd performed at the 2021 Super Bowl halftime show, and this contract may have cost him awards.

Sources told TMZ he was in talks to perform at the Grammys too (and of course, performers are pretty much always nominees) but fears of duplicate performances and uh, "bitter" back-and-forth talks put a pin in the plans, with the Grammys effectively using an ultimatum.

TMZsaid the Tesfaye camp felt his Super Bowl contract may have cost him nominations.

Grammy secrets.

The Grammy process issupposedto go like this:

The Recording Academy receives submissions from artists and their labels, organises them into categories and then sends them to its 12,000 eligible voting members (made up of music industry professionals, from label execs to engineers) who select around 20 contenders per category, by popular vote.

Those shortlists are then submitted to the Academy-organised review committees (whose identities are kept a closely guarded secret), who whittle them down to the list of announced nominees.

This is the part of the process criticised by stars like The Weeknd, because it's really unknown how or why these committees chose the nominees, leaving many to believe it's down to artists and labels offering favours and gifts to court favouritism.

"The Grammys are an elusive process," Halsey wrote on Instagram after once again being snubbed.

"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.'"

The committee process has also been accused of bias, poorly representing artists of colour in the top awards.

A final popular vote determines the winners.

But in early 2020 then-president and CEO of the Recording Academy Deborah Dugan made claims the organisation was complicit in corruption, citing "voting irregularities, financial mismanagement, 'exorbitant and unnecessary' legal bills, and conflicts of interest involving members of the academy's board, executive committee and outside lawyers".

She was on administrative leave at the time, and officially fired on March 2.

Dugan claimed in a 45-page document corrupt practices included booting names on the list for their own favourite artists and songs, not following the democratic voting.

She claimed longtime Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich sent her an email attempting to influence nomination votes.

"Specifically, Mr. Ehrlich attempted to press the Academy into nominating a song by a particular superstar in order to increase his ability to convince the superstar to perform at the Grammys," Dugan claimed, as reported by CNN.

"The email reads, in part: looking at the AMA nominations this morning, it's more about who's NOT there than who is.... and [superstar] is definitely not gonna be happy. Minor representation at best... sooo. I think there's a case to be made to [superstar] that a performance of [song] from [album] on our show, should it be nominated."