Since the beginning of 2020, things have been changing and there has been a big jolt through society. More and more people are rethinking social structures and raising awareness for racism and structural inequality.
The Black Lives Matter movement is increasingly influencing the music industry as well. Now the Recording Academy, which is responsible for the Grammy Awards, has announced the formation of the Black Music Collective, a group of Black music creators and professionals.
The collective aims to amplify Black voices within the music community and intends to serve as a space for members to speak openly about new and emerging opportunities in Black music.
The Recording Academy have already named honorary chairs, such as John Legend, Jimmy Jam and Quincy Jones, who are multi-Grammy-winning artists that will take part in the new collective. Furthermore the veteran executives Debra Lee and Sylvia Rhone will bring their expertise into the newLy founded part of the academy.
John Legend has been critical of previous Grammy Award votes, including when Entertainment Weekly asked him about some Sean “Diddy” Combs comments about The Academy in January. The artist complained at a Grammy Gala that hip-hop and black music have never been respected by the academy.
“It’s almost impossible for a Black artist to win album of the year. It’s like, how many years do we have to see Beyoncé getting snubbed? Kanye has never won album of the year. It’s kind of insane, actually… We’ve got to do something, because that’s a terrible record, and Diddy is right to complain about it”, Legend answered.
With the new collective, he and his colleagues want to make a positive impact and bring the Recording Academy into a new era with creating an open space for Black music creators.
#Peace.Love.BlackMusicCollective
