The Grammys Rebrand 'Urban' And Rap Categories To Be More Inclusive

As part of an ongoing commitment to evolve with the musical landscape, the Grammys unveiled a number of key changes to their annual award categories this week.

On Wednesday, the Recording Academy announced plans to rebrand its Best Urban Contemporary Album category as Best Progressive R&B Album, so that albums that include the more progressive elements of R&B and may include samples and elements of hip-hop, rap, dance, and electronic music can also be honored.

Similarly, the Best Rap/Sung Performance category is being changed to Best Melodic Rap Performance in an effort to represent the inclusivity of the growing hybrid performance trends within the rap genre.

The changes are effective immediately and will be observed at the 63rd Grammy Awards , scheduled for Jan. 31.

Major changes have been made to several rules and guidelines that reflect the ongoing commitment to evolve with the musical landscape and to ensure that the #GRAMMYs nominating process and rules are more transparent and fair. https://t.co/28eho91Z1u

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Major changes have been made to several rules and guidelines that reflect the ongoing commitment to evolve with the musical landscape and to ensure that the #GRAMMYs nominating process and rules are more transparent and fair. https://t.co/28eho91Z1u
Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) June 10, 2020

In a statement, the Recording Academys interim president and CEO, Harvey Mason Jr., said the changes were made to ensure the Grammy Awards are inclusive and reflect the current state of the music industry.

He told Variety in an interview that the revamped categories are part of what he hopes will be a new chapter in our history, adding, Were trying to make sure were able to pivot and change and adapt; and we want to be really inclusive.

In January, Lizzo won Best Urban Contemporary Album for Cuz I Love You , while DJ Khalids Higher , featuring Nipsey Hussle and John Legend, nabbed Best Rap/Sung Performance.

The news comes days after Republic Records home to Drake, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift announced that it will no longer classify artists as urban.

We encourage the rest of the music industry to follow suit as it is important to shape the future of what we want it to look like, and not adhere to outdated structures of the past, the label wrote on Instagram over the weekend.

The term urban has, in recent years, been criticized as an outdated and overgeneralized way to categorize music produced by Black artists. In a 2018 essay for The Guardian , British academic and author Kehinde Andrews wrote that the word stands in for Black and comes with all the same stereotypes.

Musician Tyler, the Creator offered a similar take at the 2020 Grammy Awards last January. After receiving the Best Rap Album award for 2019s Igor, he criticized the Recording Academy for consistently placing guys that look like me in the rap and urban categories.

Tyler, The Creator calls out the #Grammys on their racism when it comes to music genres pic.twitter.com/rzWe2lR3xO

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Tyler, The Creator calls out the #Grammys on their racism when it comes to music genres pic.twitter.com/rzWe2lR3xO
Odd Future Fans (@itsOddFuture) January 27, 2020

I dont like that urban word, the 29-year-old said. Its just a politically correct way to say the N-word to me. So when I hear that, Im just like, Why cant we just be in pop? So half of me feels like the rap nomination was a backhanded compliment.

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Interestingly, urban wont be completely absent from the Grammy vocabulary. While the Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album category has been renamed the Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album, the Best Latin Pop Album will now be known Best Latin Pop or Urban Album.

Mason told Rolling Stone that the decision to maintain urban here was to reflect msica urbana, used for classifying Latin genres.

Entertainment critics, however, have been similarly wary of that terms use with regard to Latin music. To that end, Mason noted , We understand that in the current climate, sentiment might be changing. We are continuing to follow the conversation and are committed to making necessary adjustments.