2018 Grammys Awards Get Big Bust In Diversity

Today in Tha Wire the 2018 60th Annual Grammy Awards will air on January 28, on CBS, but not without a ton of changes. We know with changes, come controversy. In the past the music's biggest night was heavily criticized for "whitewashing" their awards show, shutting out artists of color, especially R&B and Rap artists. It's bad win other artists point it out that fact that an award show, is being racially biased. The Grammy's have been boycotted by artists like Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Drake, called-out by music execs like Steve Stoute and LATimes Journalist Randall Roberts. It's also not the only awards show that's been historically biast against people of color.

Many black artists have won a Grammy like Michael Jackson, as well as rap artists Naughty by Nature, Jay-Z and more. Yet minority winners are far and few between, and Urban music categories are extremely limited. Over the last few years the blatant snub against R&B/Hip Hop artists has reached an all time high. In 2017 things came to a head, when British superstar Adele won Album of The Year for 25, over Beyonce's Lemonade. Adele openly acknowledged she didn't deserve to win. She even broke her award in half, and gave the other piece to the Queen Bey.

She wasn't the only one who felt that way either. Another HUGE issue people in music had was Adele's 25 wasn't even current, it dropped in 2015. While Lemonade was not only critically acclaimed, but it was released in 2016. Finally, Beyonce has never won a Grammy for Album of The Year.

After years of criticism Grammy officials vowed to make some changes, and that would include more diversity. In November the 2018 nominees were announced and it was clear they kept their promise. The Washington Post reported for the first time in Grammy history, a white man is NOT nominated for Album of The Year. Let's take a moment, and let that marinate. The first Grammy Awards took place in 1959, to honor the year-long musical accomplishments of artists in various genres. Yet this year will be the very first time a white male didn't make the cut. That's pretty significant.

Granted it's refreshing to finally see a changing trend of more R&B/Hip Hop artists being included, instead of excluded at the awards show. I gotta be honest, Ed Sheeran's Divide, should've made the nomination for the biggest win of the night. It was a dope album, and he deserves to be there. I guess in a perfect world everything would be fair, and race would never be an issue. Here's to wishing. In the meantime, the good news is Sheeran won't go home empty handed. He was nominated in a ton of other categories. The Post noted there's three major changes taking place with the 2018 Grammy Awards. Peep the video below, to get the scoop on what they are:

Billboard announced the nominees for 2018 Grammy Awards, and as previously stated, there are no caucasian brotha's among the nods for Album of The Year. Interestingly enough 4 out of the 5 nominees are minorities. Lorde is the only none person of color on the list. She was nominated for Melodrama, and will battle for the trophy against Jay'Z's 4:44, Childish Gambino's Awaken My Love, and of course Bruno Mar's 24K Magic.

For a complete run-down on all the nominations, click here. Hopefully this year's Grammys will mark the start of true balance, everyone can be happy with. Either way, don't miss all the excitement! Check your local listings for the times and channel. Make sure you get the daily scoop on entertainment with Tha Wire, on The People's Station 107 Jamz.