Urban Islandz NEWS: The Grammy Awards is undergoing a major overhaul which will see the merging of several R&B and Rap categories.
The Awards will consolidate Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Group Performance. The merging of the Best Rap Performance award was one of over 30 changes enacted by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences on Wednesday.
Both Eminem and Jay-Z took home trophies at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards this year. Eminem won Best Rap Solo Performance for “Not Afraid,” while Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz won Best Rap Group Performance for “On To The Next One.” But the merger will see to it that wont happen again.
R&B as well as some international genres will see the most change. The Academy eliminated many of the gender distinctions in the R&B categories. The next Grammy will see awards for best album, song, R&B performance and traditional R&B performance instead of separating those four categories by male and female.
The changes are as a result of the Grammy Awards coming under fire this year, for what music executive Steve Stoute called poor selection process. But the Academy President Neil Portnow said the changes were the result of a two-year review of the awards process.
In March, Stoute and Portnow agreed to work together to increase diversity in the selection process. Stoute told Times that the current overhaul was “a step in the right direction, but still a Band-Aid on the problem.”
