Excellence and Equity at the Grammy Awards
At the 61st Grammy Awards, rapper Cardi B not only took home the Grammy for Best Rap Album of the Year for her body of work on Invasion of Privacy, but she also became the first female rapper to take that top prize in the Hip Hop genre. Out of the 5 nominees, she was the sole female contender.
Her win was not surprising to many considering the immense success that she had in 2018. Invasion of Privacy was one of the most successful albums last year, and all 13 tracks were either certified gold or platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America – all these accomplishments as a new artist who released her debut full-length album. Also, not surprising though, was the backlash and hatred Cardi B received for her big Grammy win. While you could not deny that she was one of the most successful artists of 2018, many individuals still were not able to justify her winning against her fellow nominees.
Shortly after Cardi B gave her acceptance speech, many people took to social media to express their disapproval. They could not deny her massively successful year, but they still felt that there were other rappers, in the Best Rap Album category, who were more deserving than her even though she was the only nominee who had to finish her album while pregnant. Cardi B subsequently took to social media to defend herself and her win. The sequence of events that unfolded are all too familiar for women in business and work. Women are underrepresented at the top echelon of most organizations, many people, especially men, don’t understand the barriers that women face to win the highest awards and accolades of their industry, and women too often must defend the very achievements that they worked hard to earn. This is not just a question of which rapper reigned in 2018, but it is a conversation about equity.
The Hip Hop industry, and the entertainment world in general, is unfriendly to women. The #MeToo movement is indictive of the barriers and abuse that women are regularly subjected to by men who predominately hold the positions of power. Yes, the Grammy Awards are about excellence in music. Yes, Cardi B released an excellent Hip Hop album. And yes, the other nominees, the late Mac Miller, Nipsey Hussle, Pusha T, and Travis Scott also created excellent bodies of work. Creating culturally impactful music on its own is a hard feat, but to do it while going through the immense physical, emotional, and mental impact of carrying a child is even harder work.
It is 2019 and women still experience the “motherhood penalty” in the workplace. Their careers are stalled and the barriers they face only increase in number and magnitude when they enter motherhood. Cardi B is a symbol of defying this penalty. In 2018, she took to the stage at the Coachella music festival to perform her set while being very visibly pregnant. She held nothing back in giving the crowd a star performance while carrying a child. She also could have decided to delay the release of Invasion of Privacy, but she pressed forward and completed her album while pregnant and released it 3 months before giving birth. The cards are not stacked against each person the same way and being fair and equitable means we need to consider the unique barriers each person faces.
Lady Gaga said it best when she took to Twitter to defend Cardi B and her Grammy win, saying, “It is so hard to be a woman in this industry. What it takes, how hard we work through the disrespectful challenges, just to make art. I love you Cardi. You deserve your awards. Let’s celebrate her fight. Lift her up & honor her. She is brave.”
Cardi B’s Grammy win is not just about excellence in music and the achievement that she deserved and earned, but it is also about equity and fairness for women. Let’s celebrate her fight. Let’s defend her win.