During the 2020 edition of the Grammy Awards, rapper Tyler, The Creator was awarded in the category of best rap album with his album Igor. Despite this victory, the American is divided. On the one hand, it is ” grateful “on the other hand, he has the impression that the qualification of his music as “rap” is a “backhanded compliment”. “Why can’t we be nominated in the pop category? », he lamented after the ceremony. The issue, according to him, goes beyond the question of style: “I don’t like that word, “urban”, to me it’s a politically correct way of saying it N-word [en référence au terme péjoratif pour désigner les personnes noires]. »
Tyler, The Creator’s speech was quickly followed by effects: a few months later, the label Republic Records, which represents Drake and The Weeknd, announced the end of the use of the term “urban” in its descriptions of departments, job titles and musical genres. The Universal Music Group subsidiary invited “the rest of the industry” to do the same.
The Recording Academy, which organizes the Grammy Awards, immediately announced the renaming of certain categories: “Best Urban Contemporary Album” has, for example, become “Best Progressive R&B Album” ( “best progressive R’n’B album”). “This is all part of what I hope will be a new chapter in our historyhad justified its director, Harvey Mason Jr. We listen and learn from our colleagues. We’re trying to make sure we’re able to adapt. And we want to be truly inclusive. »
“It’s “blacks you are here””
The American rapper’s outburst echoed a criticism of the label “urban music” already expressed in France. As early as 2014, rapper Disiz spoke on this subject in an interview with Purebreak : “At the Victoires de la Musique, there isn’t even a rap category, it’s “urban cultures”. When I was appointed [en 2006], I found myself alongside a reggae singer, a zouk singer. Basically, it’s “blacks you are here”. »
In 2022, the rapper Gims will return to the charge: “We are put into categories. When we talk about urban album of the year, it’s like saying “it’s the sub-album of the year”, it’s pejorative. We have to stop with this”he commented, expressing the desire to create his own Victoires de la musique.
A year later, it’s a musical awards ceremony celebrating the “popular cultures” which saw the light of day: Les Flammes. For the specialized media Booska-P and Yard, at the origin of the project, the evening, the second edition of which is being held in Paris, Thursday April 25, “celebrates and repositions popular cultures (…) because we celebrate the cultures from working-class neighborhoods and the creativity of those who make them grow”.
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