Never one to hold his tongue, Sean “Diddy” Combs put members of the Recording Academy in their place during his acceptance speech at the Clive Davis‘ Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on Saturday, ahead of this year’s Grammy Awards event on Sunday.
The veteran hip-hop producer and label executive isn’t very happy about what he feels is a lack of respect for black music and hip-hop within the Grammy universe.
“Truth be told, hip-hop has never been respected by the Grammys,” Diddy said during his reported 40-minute speech while accepting the Salute to Industry Icons Award at the annual gala. “Black music has never been respected by the Grammys to the point that it should be … And that stops right now.”
The industry veteran continued his lengthy speech in saying, “I’m officially starting the clock. You’ve got 365 days to get this sh*t together. We need transparency, we need diversity. They’re [the Academy] a non-profit organization that’s supposed to protect the welfare of the musical community. But it’s going to take all of us to get this done.”
Those in the audience included Joni Mitchell, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Jimmy Iovine, Cardi B, Janet Jackson, and even Speaker of the House and noted Deadhead, Nancy Pelosi. Saturday night’s event also featured live performances from artists ranging from Chance The Rapper to Carlos Santana.
Watch Diddy’s challenge to the Recording Academy to recognize more black artists in his speech from Saturday below.
Sean “Diddy” Combs – Salute to Industry Icons Award Speech – 1/25/20
[Video: VIBE Magazine]
Diddy’s challenge to the Recording Academy also comes as the organization is currently under intense scrutiny with the drama surrounding President/CEO Deborah Dugan being placed on administrative leave. The recent move resulted in Dugan responding with a discrimination complaint alleging sexual harassment, a corrupt voting process, and sexual assault against her predecessor, Neil Portnow.
It’s also worth mentioning that this year’s recipients for the “MusiCares Person of the Year” Award, Aerosmith, legally prevented their own drummer Joey Kramer to perform with them at the annual event this weekend–although they did let Kramer share the stage for an awkward thank-you speech alongside his bandmates before being kicked off stage so they could play.
Thankfully, “Grammy Week” comes to a close tonight with the annual televised awards show.
[H/T Billboard]