FEATURE: Attitudes and Agendas: The BRIT Awards Nominations and a Predictable Reaction

FEATURE:

Attitudes and Agendas

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IN THIS PHOTO: British rapper Little Simz was not nominated (for some reason) in the Mastercard Album of the Year category for the phenomenal and award-nominated GREY Area, provoking the question as to whether sexism is dominating once more - all five nominated albums were from male artists

The BRIT Awards Nominations and a Predictable Reaction

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THE title of this feature might seem vague…

but I shall make it clearer. The nominations for this year’s BRIT Awards has been released and it is another case of some good artists mingling alongside the most commercial and sound! One can say that the BRIT Awards is among the least relevant shows and it is about record companies succeeding; a bit of a back-slapping exercise that celebrates the biggest chart acts and does not truly reflect the quality of British music. Others say (the BRITs) is like any other awards: they are there to congratulate people and, really, do we really need them at all?! Those are fair points but, actually, I feel award shows celebrate achievement and it is important to give artists a chance to enjoy their accomplishments. It is good bringing the music world together and having a night where we can see which artists have made the biggest impact over the last year. Like so much of the industry now, sexism has dominated the headlines. Before I come to that, here is a brief overview of the big nominees for this year’s ceremony:

“The nominations were announced this afternoon (January 11) in a special televised programme that featured a lineup of performances from Mabel, Aitch, Freya Ridings, Dermot Kennedy and Liam Payne. The winners will be revealed next month at the annual awards ceremony, which is due to take place at London’s The O2 on February 18.

Lewis Capaldi and Dave are the most nominated artists this year, with four nods apiece. Both the ‘Someone You Loved’ singer and ‘Location’ rapper are up for awards in the Male Solo Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist, and MasterCard Album of the Year categories.

Sam Fender in the running for Best New Artist, where he’ll go up against Aitch, Mabel, Lewis Capaldi, and Dave. Stormzy and Mabel have three nominations each”.

2020 is, I feel, a year when sexism is going to be under the spotlight in a very big way. I thought this year would start off with positivity and progression in that sense. I am still hopeful all the major festivals will adopt a fifty-fifty gender balance with their line-ups and we will see discussions occur that tackle sexism and attitudes right through the music industry. It is a little galling that we are still in January, and one of the most high-profile award shows in the calendar has made the headlines for the wrong reasons. Looking at the categories and there are two things that strike me – one good and one bad. I will say that the BRIT Awards have done something BAFTA failed to do regarding their award nominees: there is diversity and there are BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) artists to be found. Artists such as Stormzy, Michael Kiwanuka and Lizzo ensure we do not have to endure another white faces-only show. The film industry could learn something from the BRITs, but both share common ground: there is a distinct lack of women to be found!

In the Mastercard Album of the Year category, the nominations are as follows: Dave – PSYCHODRAMA; Harry Styles – Fine Line; Lewis Capaldi – Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent; Michael Kiwanuka – KIWANUKA and Stormzy – Heavy Is the Head. It is great seeing three black artists nominated and, alongside that, a variation of sounds that means the category is at its most diverse in years. Whilst one cannot accuse the judges of racism or narrow focus, where are the women?! Many people took to social media when the nominations came out, and we got two schools of thought – the former is the correct position. There were those (myself included) who wondered why a category that marks the best albums of the past year is lacking women. I will admit so many of 2019’s best albums were made by women outside of Britain but, even then, there are a few great artists who have been omitted. Little Simz’s Mercury-nominated GREY Area was better-reviewed than Lewis Capaldi’s latest album – and Stormzy’s for that matter! Also, FKA Twigs’ Magdalene scored better reviews that nearly everything on the shortlist – bar Michael Kiwanuka’s KIWANUKA. One could easily have replaced Lewis Capaldi and Stormzy and replaced them with Little Simz and FKA Twigs. We would not only have an even more diverse line-up in terms of race, but there would be two deserving women in the mix! Some will retaliate saying the BRIT Awards recognises Pop artists and it is more about the commercial than the edgy. If Capaldi has been dominating the press and conquering the world, why would one omit his album?

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IN THIS PHOTO: Mabel has been nominated for three awards at this year’s BRITs: Female Solo Artist, Best New Artist and Song of the Year (for Don't Call Me Up)

This brings into question another question: Why would an award show place popularity and marketability above quality and critical acclaim!? Categories like the Album of the Year suggest there were no truly great albums from British women out there – which is patently untrue. The Best New Artist category has Aitch, Dave; Lewis Capaldi and Sam Fender on the list and only one woman: Mabel. Again, I argue against the imbalance and why an artist such as Nilüfer Yanya's could not have made the cut instead of Aitch?! There are so many great women who are coming through that warrant a nomination – Grace Carter is another promising artist who has a bright future. Whilst, again, there is a diverse field in terms of genre, I wonder why it is four-fifths men when there are so many great female artists who could have made the running. The Group of the Year category has no female artists. This is a category that is harder to balance and, whilst The Big Moon have just released a sensational album this year (Walking Like We Do), I do feel like the overall ‘quality’ of the nominees this year is worrying. Song of the Year has nine names and only one song is led by a woman: Mabel’s Don’t Call Me Up. The BRIT Awards trimmed a couple of awards. This article from last year explains more:

“The Brit Awards have announced a major revamp for 2020, with fewer awards and an end to fan votes.

Organisers promise "more music" as a result, with artists being given full creative control of their performances.

Prizes like best British video and best international group have been cut, while the outstanding contribution award has been retired for 2020”.

If you look at the Female Solo Artist of the Year category, you have some great names. Charli XCX, FKA Twigs; Freya Ridings, Mabel and Mahalia are all nominated. I wonder why, then, Dua Lipa’s Don’t Start Now or FKA Twigs’ Cellophane were not nominated when they are far superior to several of the tracks on the Song of the Year List? Although there are a couple of collaborations on the list that include women, both of the songs feature American women in the ‘featured’ role: Mark Ronson ft. Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like a Heart and Sam Smith ft. Normani – Dancing with a Stranger. I will come to the second point of this article – the vitriolic and patronising reaction from many men following criticism regarding sexism – in a bit but, before moving on, there is a general positive we can all respect: the fact 2019 was synonymous with terrific women making brilliant music. It is a reason why festivals HAVE to be gender-balanced and improved this year. The International Female Solo Artist category is stuffed with talent: Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish; Camila Cabello, Lana Del Rey and Lizzo are all in the running! I was reading a couple of tweets that said there are many great international women/albums made by international women, but relatively few by British women – meaning the problem is more with British music and less about women in general. Sure, if the BRIT Awards were renamed and we had something more like the Grammys in this country, there would be an embarrassment of riches to choose from.

IN THIS PHOTO: Charli XCX has been nominated for Female Solo Artist - but her album, Charli (which was a commercial and critical success), and single, White Mercedes, have not been nominated in the album and song categories respectively

As most categories concern British talent, artists like the above women and Sharon Van Etten, Taylor Swift and many others would be included. That being said, Charli XCX’s Charli was a commercial success and won huge reviews. Why was she not nominated in the album category, and why were singles like Gone not in the running in the song field?! The BRIT Awards does have this reputation regarding placing sales and press inches over credibility, pure talent and promise. Maybe the buzz around artists like Lewis Capaldi has distorted the judging panel’s vision, or maybe they were not looking hard enough. If one looks at the successful singles from last year, why was Little Mix’s Bounce Back not nominated!? The song went top-ten in this country and has 35,815,570 views on YouTube (as of 12th January) and nearly forty-million streams on Spotify! Why could Tom Walker’s Just You and I and Calvin Harris and Rag’n’Bone Man’s Giant have made way?! Can anyone legitimately claim quality is a factor in the gender imbalance? I don’t think so. Even if sales are the deciding factor, Little Mix and Dua Lipa are far ahead of a lot of those nominated this year. I do wonder why British Video and the Outstanding Contribution award were cut because, if they were still going, you could have had some great women in contention!

I get the BRIT Awards needs to evolve and, with so many artists identifying as non-binary (such as Sam Smith and Janelle Monáe, will we have a new category for non-binary artists? Should we dispense with gender-specific categories altogether?! Those are reasonable questions, and I think they will become more pressing as we move through this new decade. Even if we integrate men and women or leave things as they are, one cannot deny women are being overlooked and shunned. This year’s BRIT Award nominations is, I fear, the start of a year that will see women side-lined as we look to see parity across the industry. Even if you feel the BRITs is meaningless and out-of-touch, it is one of the most-watched award shows in music and a lot of people look to it regarding those artists we need to see at festivals. Mabel is the only woman who appears in non-gender-specific categories so, does that mean she is the only great British woman?! Little Simz and FKA Twigs are out there; Cate Le Bon’s Reward is a remarkable album and, as Charli XCX has been nominated in Female Solo Artist of the Year, why were her singles and albums omitted? The fact the ever-popular Dua Lipa is missing makes me a little perplexed. What is done is done (sadly), and it was good to see articles from male journalists react strongly.

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PHOTO CREDIT: @diklein/Unsplash

Normally, it is women in the music media who have to call out sexism but, in The Guardian, both Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Alexis Petridis had their say. The former did mention how the BRITs has improved in terms of racial equality – the awards have been criticised for being too white in previous years -, but it was Petridis’ words that resonated hardest with me.

“More recently, it spent several years apparently going out of its way to ignore grime, self-evidently the most important and exciting thing around, until artists and viewers started wondering aloud if the awards had an issue with representing black British music. That seemed to have an effect. The last few years’ choices have been more ethnically diverse. This year, it’s women.

At the 2019 Brit awards, the 1975 used their acceptance speech for the best British group award to protest against sexism in the music industry, quoting a feature by the Guardian’s Laura Snapes about misogyny. Twelve months later, a grand total of one British female artist has been nominated out of 25 available slots in mixed-gender categories.

Curiously, there’s the sense that the Brits knows there’s a problem here. The longlist nominations came accompanied by a statement that sounded suspiciously like a caveat: “The eligibility list has been compiled by the Official Charts Company and includes artists who have released product and enjoyed top 40 chart success. Record companies have had the opportunity to inform Brit Awards Ltd (BAL) of any eligible artists they wish to be added or inform BAL of any incorrect entries.” In other words: don’t blame us, it’s the record companies who are at fault.

IN THIS PHOTO: Billie Eilish is nominated in the International Female Solo Artist category

It’s clear there’s a wider issue here, one that involves the British music industry’s ability or otherwise to sign and develop female artists, to turn them into lasting success stories. It’s clearly not beyond the music industry to do this. After all, it was a British female artist who made the biggest-selling album of the 21st century thus far, 21 by Adele. It just doesn’t seem to happen very often, especially compared with the US, where there are so many big-hitting female artists that the Brit nominations can’t contain them all: Taylor Swift isn’t there, edged out by Lizzo, Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Camila Cabello.

It’s a subject that you wouldn’t bet against one of the more switched-on winners at the awards ceremony in February addressing in their acceptance speech. Even if they don’t, the Brit nominations seem set to provoke a conversation about it. With the greatest of respect to the nominees, that might be the best thing about them”.

The fact the international women category could have had Taylor Swift, ROSALÍA; Little Princess, Weyes Blood and Brittany Howard included shows that there is no short supply of brilliance from women in music. Even us Brits have enough stunning female artists that are not being recognised. Read the comments below both of those Guardian articles – and he corresponding tweets on social media -, and one sees the predictable mix of men (and a few women) moaning and wondering why we need tokenism. Many have commented how it would be tokenism to include women. Other, with mock expression, stated how these articles were woke – the word means ‘to alert to injustice in society, especially racism’.

IN THIS PHOTO: In a competitive category, Taylor Swift (who released the brilliantly-received album, Lover, last year) was not nominated for International Female Solo Artist

The comments and exasperated tone of many who contributed suggests they feel there are few decent women out there; the BRIT Awards is about quality and who is most popular so, if women were included more, does that undermine the purpose and conform to an overly-P.C. and snowflake-like culture? Others were dismissive of the BRITs’ point and why we need to bother with it at all; some others were hostile and found is ridiculous why a national paper like The Guardian would put an article out and waste everyone’s time. It is bad enough that televised award shows are ignoring women, but the slew of sexism and ignorance one finds online is staggering. Granted, there was support and empathy online regarding this year’s nominations and, in most cases, the ignorance was from men and not women. It is clear sexism runs right through the music industry and there are plenty of people out there who feel women are inferior and tokenism is rife. That would suggest men are greatly inferior and, like a P.E. class where we give an award or clap to the un-athletic kid who is trying but failing, the women of music should be let in the club, even though they have not earned their dues. I shan’t go too much into the idiocy of the ‘logic’ behind many of the comments, suffice to say there is a bright spot in the BRIT Awards’ nominations: Celeste was named the BRITs Rising Star winner for 2020, after being nominated alongside Joy Crookes and Beababadoobee. An all-female field in that category shows that, first, the future is bright regarding great women coming through and, secondly, we need to look closely at new and emerging artists rather than those who do well in the charts and are commercial. Even if you are not a fan of the BRITs, it doesn’t matter: the award show is vastly popular and it is symptomatic of the wider industry: even though so many tremendous women are out in the music world, it is still the men who get the honours and focus. It is clear progress is not happening quickly enough and, in 2020, the industry is doomed to be mired in sexism…

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PHOTO CREDIT: @luzfc/Unsplash

WHEN it should be creating balance!

Sam Liddicott