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Esperanza Spalding Threatened by Justin Bieber Fans Over Grammy Win

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Aside from Arcade Fire's Album of the Year triumph, Esperanza Spalding's Best New Artist win at the Grammys was the most surprising part of Sunday's awards ceremony. The 26-year-old beat out Justin Bieber, Drake, Mumford and Sons and Florence and the Machine in the category, sending the Twitterverse into a tailspin of both cheers and jeers.

When Spalding made her way back to the media room at the Staples Center, she had no mercy for the competition, especially Justin Bieber. "He'll have many more years and many more nominations, so he'll be straight," she said when asked about beating the teen pop sensation.

Bieber's devoted acolytes didn't take her victory so lightly. In dozens of changes to Spalding's Wikipedia page, Beliebers attacked the singer/bassist, with the most glaring being this gem: "JUSTIN BIEBER DESERVED IT GO DIE IN A HOLE. WHO THE HECK ARE YOU ANYWAY?" On top of that, people changed her middle name to "Justin" and then "Quesadilla." Another Rhodes Scholar among the vandals went on to call Spalding a "reatard," which probably has nothing to do with the late Jay Reatard.

Read Spinner's Interview With Esperanza Spalding

Despite the fact that Spalding is not necessarily a new artist -- she dropped her debut album 'Junjo' in 2006 -- the win proved that in a music climate dominated by hip-hop and pop music, jazz deserves more recognition. "Hopefully people will realize that there's talent in the jazz world that they didn't know about," she said. "There's so much music evolving and rocking all over the world. If [the public] wants to discover more jazz people, that would be great."

Esperanza Spalding Performs 'Tell Him' at the White House

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fan1

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June 03 2011 at 11:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ashley

I think Justin Beiber fans are being completely ridiculous. I mean when I was a tween I was upset when someone I wanted lost an award, and I did my fair share of bashing the artist. but I never sent death threats, especially for something as huge as a grammy. And personally I don't think Justin Bieber should have been nominated

March 17 2011 at 7:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
LizzyLizzyJ

I think Justin would be deeply embarrassed that his fans did this. Though I am a fan of Justin, what she said was right. He will have many more years of music. If the Grammys were based on popularity, we would have no musical diversity. Popularity is what the People's choice awards are for. I do think a little mercy for Justin would be in order, as he has so many fans around the world.

February 21 2011 at 4:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Wanda

No Marina, this catagory was not just about talent. There are plenty of other catagories for that. This one was specifically for best NEW artist. And anyone who has been putting out albums for over 10 years is obviously not a "new" talent. It's not that she shouldn't have won as a talent, it's that she should never have been considered as a nominee in the first place. It's a sham that she was ever even considered for nomination in the "new" catagory. She's a veteran performer for over ten years. She was putting out albums when Justin Bieber was just out of kindergarten. That is not a "new" talent no matter how you look at it.

February 18 2011 at 2:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Wanda

It was supposed to be an award for a NEW artist who entered the music scene in the last year or so. That was new means. Justin Bieber fits that catagory. Esperanza Spalding entered the scene more than ten years ago and is certainly not a NEW artist. She's been putting out albums nearly as long as many other artists who are not considered new. People seem to forget this.

February 18 2011 at 2:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
RDP

Remember that, once upon a time, we were just like these delirious teens and tweens. The only difference is, Facebook and Twitter weren’t around at the height of their popularity. If it’s any consolation, Bieb’s voice will change and they won’t be worshiping him after that. And he probably won’t be too upset.

February 16 2011 at 9:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jake

Stop the fuss.
Esperanza won the award based on her talent voted by all the musicians in the business who are members of the guild. Justin may have lost on split votes. But don't confuse that this is a popularity contest based on sales, that belongs to the American Music Awards, totally different. I think the Grammys are much more of a political nature. Remember one year a stupid song "Don't worry be Happy" won the Record, Song and Male vocalist awards, totally political. This year the Grammys were aweful focussing all the telecast on Top 40 radio play, leaving out all the other genres of music.

February 15 2011 at 6:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
PianoMan

Come on guys! Give Justin a break. I agree he has no real talent, but he's trying! People like Drake, Rihanna and many other so called artist have no 'Real' talent, but they have gained ground in the music business and that's not an easy task. The marketing force behind them saw something worth throwing money at.
So let's just wish them all the best!

February 15 2011 at 6:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
pylon

I'm not a fan of Justin Bieber but I do feel he should of won one of the 2 Grammy nomination. Regarding Esperanza Spalding, shes bland and forgettable. Its cafe and background jazz music at best.

February 15 2011 at 6:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Hannah

I had never heard of Esperanza before the Grammys on Sunday. But then I went to YouTube and listened to some of her songs. She's an amazing singer! Not to mention beautiful and sweet. And to all you JB fans- remember that Justin can't win every single award out there! Appreciate other's hard work for once.

February 15 2011 at 6:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Hannah's comment
Wanda

Hannah, no one expects Bieber to win every award. But most would expect him to win an award for best "new" artist rather than have a ten year veteran win it. That's only commen sense. Spalding is not a "new" artist in any sense of the word. IF she had won this award ten years ago I would agree. But it's not ten years ago, it's ten years later.

March 09 2011 at 12:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply