photo credit: Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images
P. Diddy received the 2020 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons award, while attending the annual Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton hotel, Los Angeles last night.
All of the stars can out to celebrate, including Faith Evans, Ma$e and Lil’ Kim, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Janet Jackson, Cardi B and more. While accepting the award, Diddy gave a 50-minute speech about the trajectory of his career, the people he worked with and more. It wasn’t until about 40 minutes into the speech where Diddy caught some people by surprise.
He spoke openly about the Grammys, and voiced his true opinions. In a video recording of the speech, you can hear Diddy saying, “There’s something that I need to say to the Grammys — and I say this with love. Every year y’all be killing us. I’m speaking for all the artists and executives: in the great words of Erykah Badu, ‘We are artists and we are sensitive about our shit.’ For most of us, this is all we’ve got. This is our only hope. Truth be told, hip-hop has never been respected by the Grammys. Black music has never been respected by the Grammys.”
He also puts the Grammys on notice and gives them a warning, “I’m officially starting the clock: you’ve got 365 days to get this sh*t together. We need the artists to take back control, we need transparency, we need diversity. This is the room that has the power to [force] the change that needs to be made. They have to make the changes for us: They’re a non-profit organization that is supposed to protect the welfare of the musical community. That’s what is says on the mission statement: they work for us. It’s going to take all of us to get this done. I’m here for the artists, so sign me up.”
See the full video below. Let us know your thoughts on his comments.