With nominations for the 67th Annual Grammy Awards scheduled to be announced Friday, Nov. 8, controversy about which albums are eligible in which categories has ramped up...especially as it pertains to South African phenom Tyla.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Recording Academy made a fateful decision about Tyla’s self-titled debut album. Its R&B screening committee — which features artists, producers, songwriters and other experts — decided to move her album from R&B to pop. It will now be eligible to be nominated for best pop vocal album, where it could compete with artists like Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Billie Eilish.
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In addition to R&B, “Tyla” is influenced by Afrobeats and the South African genre Amapiano. Several of the album’s tracks, including “Water,” — a previous winner for best African music performance — have been on Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart.
The academy’s decision has resulted in strong reactions from fans on X/Twitter. One thinks the Recording Academy is disrespecting the star, writing on X, “i have a feeling they’re playing in her face.”
Another person noted how much amazing pop music is eligible to be nominated, posting, “Oh why they set her up like that knowing how many pop artists released this year?”
One user broke down how nonsensical this decision is, writing, “This doesn’t even make any sense. She actually makes R&B music. The one time they don’t automatically categorize Black artists into R&B is when they actually are making R&B music. Who listens to ‘Jump’ and think it’s pop?”
Another fan is trying to figure out where this new categorization came from, writing on X, “well this album has more r&b sounds and I’m still searching which song they consider ‘pop.’”
One listener pointed out the various genres represented on the record, posting, “this album is not subjectively just rnb. it is pop, rnb, electronic but elements of jazz. its good the recording academy did this. they should’ve submitted to rnb and pop categories did give her a fair chance because she had a good year.”
Meanwhile, someone else agrees with the Recording Academy, writing, “It’s def more a pop record [than] an r&b so makes perfect sense.”
You can see what happens with Tyla’s album when the 67th Annual Grammy Awards air live Feb, 2 on CBS and .Paramount+ with SHOWTIME.
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