The Grammys aren't racist, according to the head of the Grammys

By Eric Patrick 



Even Adele was shocked when she beat Beyonce in the
 best album category at the Grammys.

"I can't possibly accept this award," she said as she (accidentally) broke it in two.

Of course, she did accept it in the end; despite protesting 
that Beyonce was the more deserving winner.

But the issue reignited claims the Grammys are racist -
consistently overlooking black artists in favour of the 
white singers they inspire.

In the last 10 years, only one black musician has won
 the coveted album of the year award: Herbie Hancock, 
whose 2008 album, River, was a collection of covers of 
songs by the white folk singer, Joni Mitchell.

Things looked better the decade before that, when Outkast, Lauryn Hill and Indian-American artist Norah Jones all 
took home the trophy.

So does the Grammys have an issue with race? Not 
according to their president, Neil Portnow.

"I don't think there's a race problem at all," he told 
Pitchfork , following Sunday's ceremony.

"Remember, this is a peer-voted award. So when we say
 the Grammys, it's not a corporate entity - it's the 14,000 members of the Academy.

"We stand 100% behind the process: It's a democratic 
vote by majority. So somebody could either receive or 
not receive a Grammy based on one vote. It could be
 that tight."

"Well-meaning people often have a hard time
 understanding what systemic racism looks like," 
music scholar John Vilanova wrote last year, after Taylor 
Swift beat Kendrick Lamar to the best album title.

"This is what systemic racism looks like."

He says black artists are sidelined into categories that 
are "coded black", like best urban contemporary album
 (which Beyonce won) and best R&B performance 
(awarded to her younger sister, Solange).

Solange herself spoke out about Beyonce's loss on
 Sunday. In a since-deleted tweet, she wrote: "Create your 
own committees,build your own institutions, give your
 friends awards, award yourself, and be the gold you 
wanna hold, my Gs".

Meanwhile, music writer Kevin Powell suggested
 Beyonce's Lemonade - which tackles racial politics, 
police shootings and female empowerment - made
 voters "uncomfortable" because it is "unapologetically 
black".

"We are still a nation that does not want to deal so 
directly with truth.

"Adele's album is strong, but it is just songs about love.
 It is safe and uncontroversial; it breaks no new ground.

 And neither do Grammy voters, generally speaking, 
when it comes to picking winners of this particular award."

At the same time, the Grammys have no duty to reward
 the cultural impact of Beyonce's album - undeniable 
though it was.

And in purely commercial terms, Adele's 25 was the
 most successful record on the shortlist - selling 9.2 
million copies in the US, compared to Beyonce's 1.6 million.

What matters more is the perception that black artists'
contributions are undervalued. Frank Ocean, Kanye 
West and even Justin Bieber gave the Grammys a wide
 berth this year for that very reason.

If the organisers don't do something to redress that 
balance, the event could slide into irrelevance.

But then - has the ceremony ever truly been about the
 awards?

Beyonce's epic, gravity-defying performance did more
 to raise the profile of her album than adding another 
trophy to her collection (she has 22 Grammys so far).

In the wake of Sunday's ceremony, sales of Lemonade increased fourfold.

Sales of Adele's album merely doubled.