Zayn Malik has some choice words for the 2021 Grammy Awards.
On March 9, the “Pillowtalk” singer took to Twitter, writing, “F–k the grammys and everyone associated. Unless you shake hands and send gifts, there’s no nomination considerations. Next year I’ll send you a basket of confectionary.”
As one can guess, the former One Direction member was not nominated for a Grammy this year. In fact, he has never received a nom from the prestigious awards ceremony since going solo in 2015, despite consistently releasing music nearly every year.
The artist’s fans took note and showed support for Zayn on social media.
“‘Pillowtalk’ was the biggest & most streamed debut in 2016, Mind Of Mine was one of the biggest records in 2016,” one Twitter user wrote. “‘I Don’t Wanna Live Forever’ was the most streamed song in 2017, ‘Dusk Till Dawn’ was #1 on charts for weeks in 2018. Yet ZERO nominations for Zayn. rigged system.”
Another added, “no shade to Taylor Swift, but the fact that the Grammys nominated ‘I Don’t Wanna Live Forever’ for best written song & EXCLUDED zayn for no reason SCREAMS racism, even tho he wrote MOST of the song.”
Zayn isn’t the only artist speaking out against Grammy nominations this year. When noms were released in November 2020, The Weeknd was one of the first artists to share that he felt snubbed by The Recording Academy.
The “Can’t Feel My Face” singer, who released his highly successful fourth studio album After Hours last March, took to Twitter to write, “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”
Shortly after his tweet, The Recording Academy interim president and CEO Harvey Mason Jr. released a statement.
“We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated,” Harvey wrote. “I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration.”
