The death of George Floyd and nationwide Black Lives Matter protests have changed the landscape of a lot of things moving forward. Movies are being taken off streaming services, TV shows are being cancelled and a whole slew of celebrities are being called out for a past of racial injustice and prejudice that was not publicly known until now.
The Recording Academy is making changes for the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards, making rule changes and renaming categories for big genres from here on out.
What we used to know as “Best Urban Contemporary Album” is now being changed to the “Best Progressive R&B Album” category in light of the climate we’re in. As the academy puts it, the new title is a “more accurate definition to describe the merit or characteristics of music compositions or performances themselves within the genre of R&B.”
As far as “Best Rap/Sung Performance,” its name is being changed to “Best Melodic Rap” because they want to “represent the inclusivity of the growing hybrid performance trends within the rap genre.”
The term “urban” will still exist, but in the Best Latin Pop or Urban Album category.
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
These changes come early, considering the 63rd GRAMMY Awards will go down January 31, 2021.