Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Childish Gambino have all declined to perform at the 2019 Grammy awards holding on February 10 in Los Angeles.
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Their refusal to perform has been linked to the way the producers of the Grammy Awards treat the HipHop community.
Last year, Jay-Z who had the highest nominations with 8 nods failed to go home with a single award. Kendrick Lamar, though winning all five awards in rap categories, lost the Album of the Year award to Bruno Mars.
The Head of Awards of the Recording Academy, Bill Freimuth, has responded to the issue saying they are viewing it with diligence.
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“We certainly have been listening to the community with these concerns,” said Freimuth. “The difficulties that our voters have every year is that there are so many excellent recordings, and I think this year that number increased even more.”
“As always, we only have so many nominees in every category,” he continued. “So, you know, it’s never easy to tell what’s going to be nominated because we have got so many [voters] that are professional music creators, they’re coming from all types of different genres and different disciplines and varied experiences.”
Ken Ehrlich, the longtime producer of the Grammy telecast, told the Times:
“The fact of the matter is, we continue to have a problem in the hip-hop world.
“When they don’t take home the big prize, the regard of the academy, and what the Grammys represent, continues to be less meaningful to the hip-hop community, which is sad.”
