The GRAMMY Awards are the L.A. awards when it comes to hip hop and R&B, and here is why.
There are about 15,000 Recording Academy voting members, and the Academy itself says the Los Angeles Chapter is its oldest and largest chapter.
So if one city has the biggest chapter, that city has a built in advantage in genres that are still deeply regional in sound, culture, and community.
Hip hop and R&B are not the same everywhere. Atlanta does not sound like Los Angeles. New York does not sound like Miami. Texas does not sound like Chicago.
And when the biggest voting footprint sits in one market, it is not hard to see why the same markets keep getting rewarded.
Even artists who are not originally from Los Angeles but relocate there gain an unfair advantage in hip hop and R&B.
Living in L.A. increases proximity to voters, industry events, listening sessions, and informal influence that shapes taste and perception long before ballots are cast.
That proximity matters in a peer voting system, especially when one city holds the largest share of the electorate.
So here is the fix. Cap voting by city for hip hop and R&B. Put a maximum number of voters per city, like 2,000 in Los Angeles, 2,000 in New York, 2,000 in Atlanta, 2,000 in Miami, 2,000 in Texas, and so on. Keep the voting peer based, just make it geographically fair.
Because if the Academy wants the GRAMMY to mean best in the country, then the process has to reflect the country, not just the biggest chapter in the room.
If that does not change, then for hip hop and R&B these awards stop meaning what they claim to mean.
@grammys@harveymasonjr the process must change for Rap and R&B.
@DeuceThomas Y’all acting like Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton II didn’t win a championship together … Nepotism could work if they put in the work. Suburbs kids took over the NBA from time.
@iamstillpunch We can’t be prisoners of the moment.
If we’re just talking rappers impact out of the west coast . I got these rappers ahead of KDot for now.
1. Snoop Dogg
2. 2Pac
3. Eazy-E.
4. Nipsey Hussle.
5. Kobe Bean Bryant.