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Grammys Annouce a Rap Review Committee
Grammys Annouce a Rap Review Committee

The Grammys Add a Rap Committee in Efforts to Be More Accurate

Back in 2006, when Jay Z was beefing withJim Jones, the legendary Brooklyn rapper famously said "we need a hip-hop board."

More than 10 years later, we have our hip-hop board...sort of. Yesterday, the Grammys announced sweeping changes to their voting process in the hope to combat criticism that the organization is out of touch.

WATCH: A Stunned Chance The Rapper Accept His First Grammy Award

The one that is most interesting is the addition of review committees for the rap categories. (There will also be committees for Contemporary Instrumental and New Age Fields.) The Grammys say that thesecommittees will serve as an additional round of checks and balances to eliminate the potential for a popularity bias that puts emerging artists, independent music, and late-year releases at a disadvantage."

READ: Solange Criticizes Grammys After Beyonc Snub, Insists "Build Your Own Institutions"

The president of the Grammys, Bill Freimuth, expanded on this thought in a new interview with Variety:

"For Rap, and the other categories to a degree, a lot of their argument was kind of similar it was going more to big-name folks and felt like more of a popularity contest. Thats not to say that someone whos very famous cant put out a fantastic track or album, but maybe some younger up-and-coming folks deserve that spotlight.

What makes all of this ironic is the fact that these changescome a year after Chance the Rapper's mixtape Coloring Book won Rap Album of the Year. This was seen by most hip-hop fans as a just decision.

The other big chancethat the Recording Academy made, is that they will not allow eligible votersto cast their ballotbe online.

Freimuth talked about why this would be big:

More than just convenience, the real benefits of this are being able to get more votes from musicians on tour who have trouble catching up with their paper ballots and they can [fill out the voting forms] on their phone or pad, not just their desktop. It also increases participation from all voters: The Latin Grammys, our sister organization, implemented this last year and they found that voting participation increased significantly."

It will be interesting to see ifthese changes will make the Grammy winners more accurate. The 60th Annual Grammy Awards will go down January 28, 2018, at Madison Square Garden. It will be the first time the Grammys will be in New York in 15 years.

SOURCE: Grammys H/T: Variety