UPDATE: Punch has since tweeted out that he was referring to the industry as a whole being a sham, and not the Grammys.
In recent years, the Grammys have been shunned by big-name artists like Kanye West, Drake, Justin Bieber, and Frank Ocean. The awards ceremony has been heavily critiqued for being biased towards certain genres and not giving hip-hop artists the shine they have earned. Notably, hip-hop artists are almost exclusively nominated in genre categories, rarely winning the larger "Artist" or "Album of the Year" awards. Punch, the President of Top Dawg Entertainment, has chimed in on the Grammys, giving his two cents after becoming more educated on the matter.
Punch says that as he spends more and more time with people in the music business, he is increasingly led to believe that the Grammys are not a credible award show. He tweeted out that he learned a lot at the most recent ceremony, writing, "[It] had nothing to with the awards but had everything to do with ppl’s reactions and intent. It’s a sham." Reflecting on previous years, many of the most memorable scenes from the show are the camera cuts to Taylor Swift awkwardly dancing in the crowd, or reacting to a fellow artist's win.
Punch continued by pledging his allegiance to TDE, writing, "I always knew it was a sham, sometimes you just need reminders. All we got is us and by us I mean TDE. I’m just watching and paying attention." The comments could mean that the label is done with the Grammys, choosing not to attend the ceremonies, or possibly not even submit their work for consideration. Do you think Punch has a point? What are your thoughts on the current state of the industry?