Rina Sawayama was snubbed. That’s the simplest way to say it. Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s the gist. Sawayama recently released her debut album, SAWAYAMA, in the early pandemic days. Inspired by the early 2000s sound, SAWAYAMA focuses on family and what it means to be a Japanese-born Brit, despite the opposing cultures.
Her song “STFU!” describes the microaggressions Asian people face, including her own experience while living in Britain. Meanwhile, “Tokyo Love Hotel” dives into a deeper understanding of what it means to feel like an outsider in her homeland while highlighting her internal conflicts with living in Britain. Each song on her album focuses on her personal struggles, while using elements of different genres such as pop, rock, metal, and R&B to convey the emotional toll of figuring out your identity and where you belong.
As an artist, her goal was to win a Mercury Prize and BRIT Award, two of the most prestigious awards in Britain. With how well the album was perceived by multiple acclaimed music journalists, you would think her nomination was a sealed deal. Unfortunately, the dreams came to an end when Rina found out that she wasn’t eligible to enter because of a nationality clause. In simple terms, the clause stated that because she wasn’t born in Britain, she wasn’t British enough to enter — even though she’s lived there her whole life.
Music award shows seem to have a growing bias that’s slowly coming to light through their ‘othering’ of artists of color. They have begun to lose credibility as they value populism over artistic integrity and continue to disenfranchise artists who demonstrate this artistic talent. It’s even been argued that non-white artists tend to win in “racialized” categories that are often smaller and never televised.
So, what does that mean for artists or even fans? To me, it means that I simply don’t trust these award shows and their critiques. If I’m honest, I don’t think I’ve trusted the Grammys since Beyoncé lost to Beck in 2015 for Album of the Year. There’s a constant pressure for awards to determine success, even outside the music industry, but how can we hold those measures in place when artists of color aren’t held in the same prestige? I think it’s time we stop defining music quality with success and start recognizing talent as it is.