Cadence Weapon Weighs In on the Grammys' "Institutional Racism"

Published Feb 11, 2015

Canadian rapper Cadence Weapon is the latest musician to weigh in on last weekend's Grammy controversy . While many have taken aim at Kanye West for seemingly slamming Album of the Year winner Beck — an act Yeezy now says was mis-worded — Cadence Weapon (a.k.a. Roland Pemberton) has penned a lengthy open letter putting the focus on the bigger problem of the awards show's apparent failure to "avoid the relevant sound of black music that currently has a stranglehold on the Billboard charts."The missive was delivered today (February 11) over Facebook , with Pemberton taking a historical approach to poking holes at the Grammys. For instance, he points to artists like DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and Salt-N-Pepa boycotting the show back in 1989 when it was announced that the year's inaugural award for Best Rap Performance would not be televised. It should be noted this year's Best Rap Album wasn't televised either.Pemberton added that the Grammys missed out on awarding the golden years of rap by not even introducing the Best Rap Album category until 1996.Throughout the letter, the rapper also points out the preposterousness of people, including Doobie Brother Michael McDonald, using "outdated thinking" by saying Beck'swas a more worthy victor than Beyoncé's self-titled LP because Beck played more instruments.He also challenges the Grammys by claiming they have a "bias towards old-fashioned outwardly 'conscious' or 'positive' black music" over the subtler social commentary in contemporary drill, trap and ratchet music.There's much more to Cadence Weapon's passionate, informed piece targeting the "institutional racism" of the Grammys. You can read the letter in full down below.