Music was in the news this week because of the Grammy Awards, an event dominated by Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars‘ Silk Sonic, which took home four awards, “a clean sweep” as .Paak hilariously stated while accepting the group’s final award. To date, Mars has brought home an incredible 16 Grammys with a total of 30 nominations.
While Mars and .Paak are incredibly talented and deserving, that doesn’t change the fact that the Recording Academy has a long history of disproportionately spotlighting the talent of male artists versus women. Excluding the 2022 Grammys, 86.6% of nominees since 2013 have been men.
Underscoring The Academy’s issues with minorities, during this year’s in memoriam segment, it weirdly chose to describe Virgil Alboh as a “hip hop fashion designer.”
The 64th Grammy Awards was a meaningful night for Doja Cat and SZA, who after many nominees finally took home their first Grammy for “Kiss Me More.” Saweetie has thus far been nominated for 11 Grammys, while SZA has received 14 nominations.
It was also wonderful to witness Jazmine Sullivan take home her first Grammy for best r&b album on Sunday night. She also took home the award for best r&b performance in a tie with Silk Sonic. Sullivan is in the midst of her “Heaux Tale” tour, which will wrap up in July.
As for March’s Snobette Sounds (known for disproportionately highlighting women!), my list of 18 singles includes songs by or featuring Nicki Minaj, Latto, H.E.R., Karlae, Akemi Fox, Saweetie, Princess Nokia, Coi Leray, Renni Rucci, Kehlani, Ella Mai, Dua Saleh, Summer Walker, SZA, Cardi B, Sabrina Claudio, Gwen Bunn, Mychelle, Amethyst and Mariah Carey.
Submit music to me, Europe Angelique, on Twitter and find the monthly-updated Snobette Sounds Spotify playlist here.
Check out all 18 song selections below.
- Nicki Minaj ft. Fivio Foreign: “We Go Up”
- Latto: “Real One”
- A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie ft. H.E.R. : “Playa”
- Karlae: “Did That”
- Akemi Fox: “See You Soon”
- Saweetie: “Get It Girl”
- Princess Nokia: “No Effort”
- Coi Leray ft. Nicki Minaj: “Blick Blick”
- Renni Rucci: “Don’t Like Me”
- Kehlani ft. Justin Beiber: “up at night”
- Ella Mai: “Leave You Alone”
- Dua Saleh: “i belong to you”
- Summer Walker ft. SZA & Cardi B: “No Love (Extended Version)”
- Sabrina Claudio: “Better Version”
- Gwen Bunn: “2MANYTHINGS”
- Mychelle ft. ENNY: “Forbidden Fruit”
- Amethyst: “Up All Night”
- Bonus track: Latto and Mariah Carey ft. DJ Khaled: “Big Energy Remix”
