The GRAMMYs are again at it once more with the remix—and never the great variety. In a press launch wrapped in industry-speak and compelled range language, the Recording Academy introduced new classes for 2026, together with a return of “Finest Album Cowl” (cute) and a shiny new award for “Finest Conventional Nation Album.” However to be sincere, that final one looks like a canine whistle wrapped in rhinestone fringe.
Let’s not beat across the haystack: “Finest Conventional Nation Album” reads like a thinly veiled try to gatekeep the style and push Black nation artists again out of the highlight they’ve lastly began to assert. This announcement comes conveniently after Beyoncé made historical past on the 2025 GRAMMYs along with her chart-topping Cowboy Carter and walked away with a long-overdue Album of the 12 months win. Now, unexpectedly, there’s a separate room for “conventional” nation? We see the play. Y’all need the twang with out the soul.
What precisely qualifies as “conventional” anyway? Does it imply no R&B affect? No gospel roots? No zydeco or Black fiddle enjoying or banjos—which, by the best way, got here straight from West Africa? Or does “conventional” simply imply white?
Whereas we’re joyful to see “Finest Album Cowl” lastly get some shine once more it’s exhausting to disregard the stench of appeasement. It’s giving, “Right here, take your Beyoncé win and go away us alone.” It’s giving, “Now that the highlight’s too Black, we’re transferring the goalposts once more.” And as soon as once more, the GRAMMYs reveal they’d slightly rearrange the classes than interrogate their very own racist historical past.
This newest shake-up must be our ultimate wake-up name. Cease in search of validation from an establishment that solely is aware of easy methods to tokenize and separate. It’s time to pour into the NAACP Picture Awards, the Soul Prepare Awards, the BET Awards and actually, create new areas that mirror the cultural energy Black artists convey to the desk.
As a result of if the GRAMMYs can invent an entire new class to sidestep inclusion, then we are able to invent one thing that facilities us completely. And if that ain’t conventional Black excellence, I don’t know what’s.
In regards to the Creator: Victor Qunnuell Vaughns Jr. (@vqvaughns) is EBONY’s Style + Magnificence Editor, spotlighting Black type, magnificence, grooming, and tradition. When he’s not protecting what’s subsequent, he’s in all probability rewatching a ’90s traditional or hanging with buddies.