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Grammys' Best New Artist Farce: Why Some Acts Don't Deserve the Award

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Imagine you're at a car dealership and you ask the salesman to show you the best new models. You're checking them out, giddy to see this year's cream of the crop, and -- surprise! -- you realize he's trying to sell you on a pre-owned car from 2008.

"What gives? That's not new," you say. "Buddy," he says, putting a reassuring hand on your back, "you might know that, but lots of other people haven't even heard of that model before. That's new enough for us."

That, in essence, is the Grammys' stance on the Best New Artist award, an honor designed to catapult the winner to new heights of stardom.

There's been some scrutiny over previous years' selections -- Evanescence over 50 Cent, Milli Vanilli over real singers, Starland Vocal Band over anything that makes sounds -- but our biggest issue is how talented nominees like Bon Iver, Esperanza Spalding, Shelby Lynne and Lauryn Hill can be called "new" when they're precisely the opposite, a betrayal of the award's reason for existing.

To clarify, here's how the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences describes the category: "A new artist is defined as any performing artist who releases, during the eligibility year, the recording that first establishes the public identity of that artist as a performer."

This is where things get murky. Bon Iver, the indie-rock band nominated this year, independently put out their debut, 'For Emma, Forever Ago,' in 2007. Though it wasn't a runaway commercial success, it received great reviews from outlets like Pitchfork and the New York Times, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, had several of its songs placed in television shows and ended up on a slew of critic lists of best albums of the year and, later, the decade. That acclaim led to frontman Justin Vernon collaborating with Kanye West on 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,' which in turn played some immeasurable part in Bon Iver's self-titled second album debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard album charts.

Previous year's nominees and winners have been worse than that not-quite-sensation. Esperanza Spalding, the 2011 victor who surprisingly beat out Florence and the Machine, Mumford and Sons, Drake and Justin Bieber, was five years removed from her debut album -- and was personally selected by President Obama to perform at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. But hey, nobody pays attention to that little event, especially not the Bieber fans who threatened to kill her.

Other great examples of this farce include veteran country musician Shelby Lynne, power-pop group Fountains of Wayne and indie rockers Silversun Pickups. Lynne, the 2001 victor, acknowledged the absurdity of the honor in her speech, saying, "Thirteen years and six albums to get here." Fountains were nominated in 2004 after 'Stacy's Mom' became a hit, but the band toured the world in the '90s, partly as the opener for Smashing Pumpkins' 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' tour. Silversun Pickups had a single, 'Lazy Eye,' hit No. 5 on the Billboard rock charts in 2007, but the band wasn't nominated for a Grammy until 2010.

But before them came one of the biggest head-scratchers, when Lauryn Hill won the 1999 trophy on the strength of her standout solo LP, 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.' The issue? She had already earned two Grammys as one-third of the Fugees, who took home Best Rap Album for 'The Score' and Best R&B Performance for 'Killing Me Softly' in 1996.

What helped Hill and fellow nominee Lucinda Williams out was the fact that the eligibility rules were expanded a year earlier to include the "public identity" clause and eliminate the requirement that it had to be the artist's first album. Under the older way, artists like Nirvana weren't eligible -- their debut, 'Bleach,' received no Grammy attention -- so NARAS decided to change the rules.

"There was a lot of discussion [by the committee] about Lucinda and Lauryn," NARAS' then-president Mike Greene told the L.A. Times. "With Lucinda, obviously, it was because she's been around for a while. And with Lauryn, the question concerned whether her name and identity was out there with enough of a profile as a member of the Fugees. The votes on both were pretty resounding that if we're going to err, let's err on the side of the artist."

Current Grammy rules stipulate that "any previous Grammy nomination for the artist as a performer precludes eligibility in the Best New Artist category (including a nomination as an "established performing member of a nominated group)," which obviously would disqualify her, so something changed between then and now. Unfortunately, we could not obtain clarification on that amendment.

While it's apparent the Grammys are about celebrating music and culture, they're also about TV ratings and boosting record sales, hence the bending of rules -- erring "on the side of the artist" -- to ensure some variety and buzz in their categories. (It's also why you'll get artists like Carrie Underwood winning Best New Artist on the strength of a debut album that was released well after she won 'American Idol,' but that's another issue.)

So how do we propose they fix it? Stop treating passionate music fans like bandwagon jumpers who buy the jersey of whatever team won the Super Bowl. Nominate the artists who knocked it out of the park with their first record and leave the rest -- the acclaimed acts who are just finding mainstream/chart success -- to earn something at a later Grammy ceremony. We're suprised to say this about anything in the music business, but it's how we feel: Go back to the old way!

But here we are again, with Bon Iver taking the spot of a deserving new artist who could really benefit from all the buzz a nomination brings. Until then, all we can do is hope they finally get it right (and that the ceremony doesn't top the four-hour mark).

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digio252

btw who ever is correcting spelling and grammar , did you ever hear of typos? bso what theperson wrote "they're " instead of " their " i write "your" instead of You're" I bet you cant go dow in the hood and be that well spoken ? you wont be accepted

you have alot of correcting to do for example the letter "s " being used at the end of words that are not plural and then omitting the "s" when the word is plural.how about the apostrophe? have you ever noticed the ommission of any apostrophe when speaking ? for example" instead of "She's Pregnant" its "She pregnant

February 12 2012 at 4:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to digio252's comment
tshieldsagora

Just fyi: "alot" is two separate words, since you're apparently concerned about such things.

February 13 2012 at 9:03 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
digio252

I 've got another one for you Bernard Hopkins .a middle wieght said hewould never be beaten by a white boxer.guess what happened ? "

February 12 2012 at 4:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
digio252

you wanted the playing field level right ? then give me one good reason why we have "black voices" ? what century are you living in ? Try looking ahead not back. what black folks dont realize is , oh yes its nice to be given special treatment. but all that does is send a message to very black kid growing up, " you will never be treated fairly by the white man" and hence the stereo type is perpetuated, you dont mind do you ? as long as you have special places for people of color btw Miles Davis is another black racists, he thinks that black musicaians are betterthan white musicans imagine that ? the truth is no one is better at anything just because the color of there skin. btw what happened to our great basketball team ? and who holds the record as undefeated heavy weight champion........ ( look at those Klitscho.bros. theres not a black heavy weight alive that can beat them ) see its very shallow to focus on your own color, thats not a level playing field now is it ? black is not a nationality , neither is african-amercian ........ now having said all that will I be blocked again from black voices?
freedom of expression ? constitution rights? what constitution? (sound familair?.......... edicts from the Furer

February 12 2012 at 4:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to digio252's comment
peppermint4209

How do you know what Black people do and don't realize? Have you taken surveys or are you just guessing?

Black voices exists for the same reason the myriad White supremacist sites exist...freedom of speech. No society should EVER stop looking back at either the good or the bad...that whole deal with being doomed to repeat history and whatnot.

And as far as Black racism is concerned, I'll say it again. Yes, Black people can be racist too and there are fewer social penalities for being open with it...but power is the key to racism. It's like a parent beating a child vs. a child hitting a parent or a child abusing an elderly parent vs. the opposite. Everyone involved is violent, but the person with the most power (in this case physical) bears the brunt of the "wrongness". Racism from the group in power simply has more of an impact.

February 12 2012 at 7:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
peppermint4209

How do you know what Black people do and don't realize? Have you taken surveys or are you just guessing?

Black voices exists for the same reason the myriad White supremacist sites exist...freedom of speech. No society should EVER stop looking back at either the good or the bad...that whole deal with being doomed to repeat history and whatnot.

And as far as Black racism is concerned, I'll say it again. Yes, Black people can be racist too and there are fewer social penalities for being open with it...but power is the key to racism. It's like a parent beating a child vs. a child hitting a parent or a child abusing an elderly parent vs. the opposite. Everyone involved is violent, but the person with the most power (in this case physical) bears the brunt of the "wrongness". Racism from the group in power simply has more of an impact.

February 12 2012 at 7:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
lmedwards

THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN~> Another Artiste/Group nominated this year in the Reggae catagory should also be investigated... Israel Vibration nomination for thier album 'Reggae Knights' that was actually released in Dec. 2010 but now 'convienently' ' re-released as a supposed 'new album' on Oct. 6 2011 by VP Records .. add to that the fact that the group has been in a longstanding dispute over the namesake being used by only two members of the group, when the actual founding member "Apple" and creator of the name 'Israel Vibration' was essentially ostrasised after bringing the group to worldwide recognition in 1994 for writing/singing the hit song 'Rude Bwoy Shufflin' that hit #1 on European charts and also hit charts here in America and gained them a Grammy nomination in1994. At the present time disputes are being prepared to be taken care of through the legal process. With this said and after reading the proof prepared here in this article it is obvious to anyone with a basic IQ to see that the Grammy awards fails to follow the guidelines set forth that they themselves have put into place as a prerequisite for any/all artistes/groups up for nomination of a Grammy Award. I personally have a problem with that, in my eyes it makes the Grammys appear to be a sham and an insult to those of us working in the music industry. Essentially the Grammys is just another company involved in the fleecing of America.

February 12 2012 at 4:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
lmedwards

Another Artiste/Group nominated this year in the Reggae catagory should also be investigated... Israel Vibration nomination for thier album 'Reggae Knights' that was actually released in Dec. 2010 but now 'convienently' ' re-released as a supposed 'new album' on Oct. 6 2011 by VP Records .. add to that the fact that the group has been in a longstanding dispute over the namesake being used by only two members of the group, when the actual founding member "Apple" and creator of the name 'Israel Vibration' was essentially ostrasised after bringing the group to worldwide recognition in 1994 for writing/singing the hit song 'Rude Bwoy Shufflin' that hit #1 on European charts and also hit charts here in America and gained them a Grammy nomination in1994. At the present time disputes are being prepared to be taken care of through the legal process. With this said and after reading the proof prepared here in this article it is obvious to anyone with a basic IQ to see that the Grammy awards fails to follow the guidelines set forth that they themselves have put into place as a prerequisite for any/all artistes/groups up for nomination of a Grammy Award. I personally have a problem with that, in my eyes it makes the Grammys appear to be a sham and an insult to those of us working in the music industry. Essentially the Grammys is just another company involved in the fleecing of America.

February 12 2012 at 3:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
lmedwards

Another Artiste/Group nominated this year in the Reggae catagory should also be investigated... Israel Vibration nomination for thier album 'Reggae Knights' that was actually released in Dec. 2010 but now 'convienently' ' re-released as a supposed 'new album' on Oct. 6 2011 by VP Records .. add to that the fact that the group has been in a longstanding dispute over the namesake being used by only two members of the group, when the actual founding member "Apple" and creator of the name 'Israel Vibration' was essentially ostrasised after bringing the group to worldwide recognition in 1994 for writing/singing the hit song 'Rude Bwoy Shufflin' that hit #1 on European charts and also hit charts here in America and gained them a Grammy nomination in1994. At the present time disputes are being prepared to be taken care of through the legal process. With this said and after reading the proof prepared here in this article it is obvious to anyone with a basic IQ to see that the Grammy awards fails to follow the guidelines set forth that they themselves have put into place as a prerequisite for any/all artistes/groups up for nomination of a Grammy Award. I personally have a problem with that, in my eyes it makes the Grammys appear to be a sham and an insult to those of us working in the music industry. Essentially the Grammys is just another company involved in the fleecing of America.

February 12 2012 at 3:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tomtlbjr7

Is this the same nappy headed hoe who said she would rather not sell any records if they were to white people. I love black racists. their so much fun.

February 12 2012 at 3:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to tomtlbjr7's comment
Angbii@aol.com

And I love those who need a tutor in the English language. Especially those who don't know the difference between they're and their. Racist or ignorant? Decide for yourself which is the the lesser of two evils!

February 12 2012 at 3:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
riesenmic

I’ve had it! I can’t take it any more. I cannot bear to have one more Black Awards show go on like this. That’s right, this is a cease and desist notice to: The NAACP Image Awards, The BET Awards, The Soul Train Awards, The Vh1 Hip-Hop Honors, The Source Awards, The You’re a Person of Color Awards, (okay you caught me—I made the last one up). However the point remains, the more Black Award shows we seem to have, the lower quality they seem to get! Don't forget the black beauty pageants and the black colored graduations held separately at several colleges. TALK ABOUT RACISM, BLACKS ARE THE MOST RACIST PEOPLE IN AMERICA AND THEY ALWAYS WANT TO SEGGREGATE THEMSELVES FROM EVERYONE ELSE.

February 12 2012 at 3:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to riesenmic's comment
peppermint4209

Do you have the same problem with the Country Music Awards, or the "World" Series or Irish history month? I bet not and probably just because they're not about race, even though they still represent a form of segregation and exclusion.

Remember, the birth of any minority award (gender included) came about because of segregation instituted by the majority. They don't just disappear OR cease to serve a purpose because there have been advances toward equality. And considering that VH1 and BET are run by companies controlled by White boards and CEOs, I think you need to rethink where you're placing the blame.

I really don't get the problem...I have no issue with the Latin Grammys or any other race or group-based awards in the US. Makes me wonder why some people do. Other races or people celebrating their heritage and contributions takes nothing away from my own.

And yes, Black people can be racist too (though far from being the most racist. How many people of other races cultures do you know to even make that comparison?) ...but it's just like the issue of a kid hitting a parent vs. a parent hitting a kid...or even a child hitting their elderly parent and the elderly parent hitting their child. The stronger person bears the greater burden of being in the wrong because they have more power. That's the key to racism...everybody does it, but it has much more dire consequences when the party in power is the offender.

February 12 2012 at 6:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brooke

Correct me if I am wrong here. So they are getting upset because people who are part of a band are going solo and earning awards..?

I don't understand the issue. They may not be 'new' but they are 'new' in that category.

This is what I am saying. Hill's band The Fugees get nominated for 'breakout' and then SHE goes solo and does the same. Technically she would be a breakout becuase she's solo. I could be wrong. But I don't see the problem here.

February 12 2012 at 3:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Deme Doz

Soul II Soul should have won best New Artist the year fake ass Milli Vanilli won it.

February 12 2012 at 3:03 PM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply