Grammys moving away from outdated term ‘urban’

Mere days after Republic Records announced that it would cease using the word “urban” as a music genre descriptor, the Grammy Awards has taken a page out the same book and renamed many award categories. In a statement released on June 10, The Recording Academy revealed it's changed “Best Urban Contemporary Album” to “Best Progressive R&B Album,” and “Best Latin Rock, Urban Or Alternative Album” has been renamed “Best Latin Rock Or Alternative Album.”The move comes six months after Tyler, The Creator, who won his first Grammy in January for Best Rap Album, told media backstage at the time that it felt like a “backhanded compliment,” because, “It sucks that whenever we — and I mean guys that look like me — do anything that's genre-bending or that's anything, they always put it in a rap or urban category. I don't like that ‘urban’ word — it's just a politically correct way to say the n-word to me.”

Tyler, The Creator calls out the #Grammys on their racism when it comes to music genres pic.twitter.com/rzWe2lR3xO

— Odd Future Fans (@itsOddFuture) January 27, 2020

Republic Records, when announcing the change, said in a statement, in part, “‘Urban’ is rooted in the historical evolution of terms that sought to define Black music […] over time the meaning and connotations of ‘urban’ have shifted and it developed into a generalization of Black people in many sectors of the music industry, including employees and music by Black artists,” and encouraged the “rest of the music industry to consider following suit as it is important to shape the future of what we want it to look like.”