On January 29, 2017, exactly 364 days before Sunday night’s Grammy Awards, Lorde (the only female nominee in the coveted Album of the Year category) tweeted, “These old men in power have a storm coming, the likes of which they cannot comprehend.” On December 6, 2017, she retweeted it with an addendum:
Well, yes and no. Though the nominees for the 2018 Grammys were the most diverse group in the history of the ceremony, and the ubiquitous white roses provided the optics of female empowerment, the winners told a different story. Lorde was the only Album of the Year contender among her male counterparts who did not perform during the show. Cardi B, who roundly owned the airwaves in 2017, took to the stage not to collect a statuette but to bring one of the broadcast’s few moments of animated, organic vivacity. Kesha, who led the charge in calling out her abuser, lost Best Pop Solo Performance to a man who wasn’t even in attendance. If we watch awards shows as barometers of where the culture is (remember #OscarsSoWhite?), last night’s Grammys proved that the music industry still has a long way to go.
Few of us could have predicted just how powerful a storm the #MeToo movement would become. As Lorde tweeted a year ago, we are seeing some of those old men lose their power—and much of the drama has been playing out during Awards Season, making must-see TV out of the ceremonies that kick off with the Golden Globes and conclude with the Oscars. Historically, awards shows have been a parade of industry self-congratulation, with women fielding limp red carpet questions about who they’re wearing and being asked to peacock for the Mani Cam. And since every look and memorable moment will be regrammed and gif’d immediately after, watching in real-time hasn’t really been necessary in years past. But the #MeToo movement is making awards shows relevant again.
Since Hollywood received the memo to wear black to the Golden Globes and Kristen Bell served as the first-ever host for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, admonishing the audience that “everyone’s story deserves to be told,” award shows have been trying to “get woke“. And those attempts have been setting off miniature tempests in their respective teapots, perhaps signaling a larger cultural shift toward accountability. Just last week, Casey Affleck declined to give out the Best Actress Award at this year’s Oscars due to the sexual harassment allegations against him. (Allegations that, for what it’s worth, were public when he won the award for Best Actor last year.)
At Sunday’s Grammys, white roses took center stage to show solidarity for the #TimesUp movement. The gesture harkened back to the suffragettes and the Winner of the Popular Vote at last year’s presidential inauguration. Even the Most Important Celebrity of the Night, Blue Ivy Carter, shushed her parents while wearing an impeccable white suit. All eyes tuned in to see not just who would win Best Rap Performance but to witness how artists responded to the call for gender equality.
To come forward with allegations in such a shaky industry could be to risk everything.
The music industry has been slower to get the memo than other cultural institutions, especially compared to harassment and assault charges in Hollywood. Lily Allen observed that this could be because of the way record deals are structured. Artists sign on to decades-long contracts rather than one-off movies, so speaking up can quite literally sink your career. As Grammy nominee Ledisi told Glamour on Sunday’s red carpet, “It’s more difficult to say ‘time’s up’ in the music industry because you think you’re going to get blackballed if you do.”
That hasn’t stopped many accusers from coming forward, though. Industry titan Russell Simmons has been accused of rape by six women, and LA Reid stepped down from his position at the top of Epic Records after an assistant accused him of unlawful sexual harassment. R. Kelly had been openly predatory since marrying Aaliyah when she was 15 and he was 25, and in 2017 Buzzfeed revealed new evidence of exploitation. Atlanta-based activists Oronike Odeleye and Kenyette Barnes have organized the #MuteRKelly campaign in an effort to keep his songs off the airwaves and cancel his concerts. Still, compared to the dozens of A-list actresses speaking up in in Hollywood, relatively few female musicians have done so. To come forward in a shaky industry where revenue sources are in a constant state of flux could be to risk everything.
Kesha, who was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance, trailblazed the call for accountability when she filed a lawsuit against her longtime producer Dr. Luke, claiming he had “sexually, verbally, and emotionally abused” her. She had been locked into an eight-album contract with the producer, a deal she signed when she was just 18 years-old. In 2016, she was denied an injunction that would have let her record music outside of her Sony contract. Her career took a major blow for a few years due to the trauma of both the violence she endured and the legal battle itself. Fellow female artists Adele, Lady Gaga, and Kelly Clarkson publicly supported Kesha, but she was unable to put out new music while her fate hung in the judge’s hands. She put out Rainbow in 2017, her first album in five years. Dr. Luke left the label this past April, yet as of now, Kesha is still on the hook to fulfill her original recording contract.
From last night’s bouquet of white roses to the handful of barn-burning speeches, the industry is taking notice—or at least acting like it. Janelle Monae’s introduction of Kesha minced no words: “Time’s up for the abuse of power. It’s not just going on in Hollywood, it’s not just going on Washington, it’s right here in our industry as well.” She called for a united front between men and women for equal pay, safe work environments, and access for all women. Kesha then took her victory lap, flanked by talented women including Cyndi Lauper, Andra Day, and Camila Cabello, performing the stirring “Praying,” which, on that stage, read like a warning to abusers.
When it came time to take home trophies, the real lessons of #TimesUp were conspicuously absent.
The moment was powerful, as the ladies’ voices blended and harmonized to support a peer musician who went through hell to regain her safety and release new songs into the world. But when it came time to take home trophies, the real lessons of #TimesUp were conspicuously absent. Singer Alessia Cara was the only solo female artist to win a main award the entire night. Speaking at a press conference after the show, she told reporters, “Things are uneven and unequal, and they need to be talked about and need to be changed.”
But talk is one thing, change is another. In a post-show interview with Variety, Recording Academy President Neil Portnow urged women who have ambitions from songwriting to producing to becoming top-level record label brass, and “to step up” because he “think[s] they would be welcome.” Judging by those who were recognized at the 2018 Grammys, that welcome mat has yet to be rolled all the way out.
Hopefully next year, Cara’s call for change will be heard.
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