Halsey is the latest artist to speak out against the Grammys

After dominating at the American Music Awards this year, The Weeknd was shockingly snubbed during last week’s nominee announcement for the 2021 Grammy Awards. The lack of nominations did not go unnoticed and several artists have publicly chastised the award show for ignoring The Weeknd’s brilliant and hugely successful After Hours album. Popstar Halsey, who was also shutout of this year’s nominations, is the latest musician to voice her displeasure with the Grammys.“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,” wrote Halsey in her Instagram Stories this past weekend.

“The Grammys are an elusive process. It can often be about behind the scenes private performances, knowing the right people, campaigning through the grapevine, with the right handshakes and ‘bribes’ that can be just ambiguous enough to pass as ‘not bribes.’ And if you get that far, it’s about committing to exclusive TV performances and making sure you help the Academy make their millions in advertising on the night of the show…Perhaps sometimes it is (!!!) but it’s not always about the music or quality or culture.”

The singer released her third studio album Manic in January, debuting at number two on the Billboard chart and becoming the first album in 2020 to reach Platinum status. The album featured the massive singles “Without Me” and “Graveyard,” but like After Hours, failed to garner any Grammy nominations.“Just wanted to get that off my chest,” continued Halsey. “@theweeknd deserves better, and Manic did too perhaps it’s unbecoming of me to say so but I can’t care anymore. 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.”

The Weeknd won Male Artist Soul and R&B, Best Soul and R&B Song for “Heartless” and Best Soul and R&B Album for After Hours at the 2020 American Music Awards (see the full list of winners here) and took home the awards for Video of the Year and R&B Video of the Year for “Blinding Lights” at the MTV VMAs. Time named The Weeknd one of 2020’s most influential people and gave him one of only eight cover spots. The Canadian singer’s fourth studio album is currently the most streamed R&B record of all time. In November, the Weeknd announced that he’s playing the Super Bowl halftime show (airing Feb. 7, 2021 on CTV).

Still, no Grammy nominations.The Weeknd responded to the snub by calling the award show "corrupt" and backing out of his previously planned performance. In addition to Halsey, he also received support from Drake, Elton John and Charlie Puth.Repping for his OVO family, Drake also took to his Instagram Stories to lament over The Weeknd’s massive snub.

“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,” wrote the Toronto native. “It’s like a relative you keep expecting to fix up but they just can’t change their ways.”

Speaking specifically about The Weeknd and his lack of noms, Drizzy suggested now may be a great time for a new awards show. “I said @theweeknd was a lock for either album or song of the year along with countless other reasonable assumptions and it just never goes that way,” wrote Drake. “This is a great time for somebody to start something new that we can build up over time and pass on to the generations to come.” Drake famously refused to attend the Grammys in 2018 over similar criticisms

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