3 of the Most Criminal GRAMMY Snubs of the 21st Century

Awards shows, some people are incredibly into them and use them as a guiding light. On the contrary, other people despise them and view them as unfair and completely futile. Regarding the latter, there have been a vast amount of instances supporting that perspective. Whether it be a nomination snub or some sort of political malpractice in the voting process, people have grown skeptical of awards shows.

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One award show people have seemingly grown more reluctant to support is the GRAMMYs. The GRAMMYs have raised a lot of eyebrows in the past for numerous reasons. However, one thing they consistently do to incite a reaction is to pick the wrong winner. Now, of course, the winner of a certain award is entirely subjective, However, these three GRAMMYs snubs have gone down in the public memory as some of the most criminally controversial.

Kanye West Loses GRAMMY Song of The Year

Before Kanye West became a controversial figure he ruled the early ‘2000s hip-hop and pop music scene. Particularly in 2005 with his album College Dropout and the hit song, “Jesus Walks.” When both the album and the song were released in 2004, the album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and the song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Given its chart history and public reception, many people thought “Jesus Walks” was a shoo-in for the 2005 GRAMMY Song of The Year Award. However, John Mayer’s “Daughters” swooped in and took the award.

Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’ Loses to Herbie Hancock

Amy Winehouse’s 2006 album, Back To Black is nothing short of a ‘2000s staple piece. Frankly and tragically, her passing made it all the more popular, but before her passing the album was still a musically melancholic piece of pure gold. Hence, it entirely deserved peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in 2007.

Despite Winehouse’s booming chart success and cementing herself as one of the coolest rock ‘n’ roll and R&B musicians of the early ‘2000s, she still lost album of the year. Winehouse’s loss came to none other than Herbie Hancock’s album, River: The Joni Letters.

Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” Falls to Ed Sheeran

Kendrick Lamar is one of the most socially and optically influential musicians of ‘2010s, and it all started with his album, To Pimp a Butterfly. Upon its release in 2015, Lamar stunned the world with his vigorous and fervent lyrics of empowerment and social critique. Culturally speaking, it has been one of the most impactful albums of the 21st century. Especially the song, “Alright.”

Even though Lamar’s “Alright” empowered the masses and made people think rather analytically about society, the GRAMMYs did not give him the Song of The Year Award in 2016. Instead, they gave it to Ed Sheeran for his R&B and pop single, “Thinking Out Loud.”

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