The Weeknd says he will no longer allow his record label to submit his music to Grammys after snub

The Weeknd was snubbed by the Grammy Awards as he was given zero nominations despite releasing a critically-acclaimed album  and the most successful chart-topping song for nearly a decade. 

And now the star is taking matters into his own hands.

The 31-year-old singer – real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye –  has said he will no longer allow his record label, Republic Records, to submit his music for awards consideration.

 He released a statement to the New York Times on Thursday which read: ‘Because of the secret committees.

Taking a stand: The Weeknd (seen in January) has said he will no longer allow his record label, Republic Records, to submit his music to the Grammy Awards  for consideration

‘I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.’

He is not the only black artist who has criticized the award show as Drake, Kanye West, and Frank Ocean have all publicly voiced their displeasure. 

Back in November, The Weeknd called the Grammy Awards ‘corrupt’ after he was snubbed in the nominations.

Taking to social media, he wrote to organizers: ‘You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…’ 

Not pleased: The 31-year-old Canadian singer (seen at the event in 2016) released a statement to the New York Times which read: 'Because of the secret committees. I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys'

Not pleased: The 31-year-old Canadian singer (seen at the event in 2016) released a statement to the New York Times which read: ‘Because of the secret committees. I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys’

Insiders said at the time that the Can’t Feel My Face artist’s camp suspected the lack of nominations were in response to the unpleasant back and forth over whether he would perform in the Super Bowl. 

The artist released the record After Hours in March to strong sales and reviews, and it won Favorite Album – Soul/R&B honors at the American Music Awards last year.

Recording Academy interim chief Harvey Mason, jr. responded to the singer’s public complaints at the time in a statement to Rolling Stone.

‘We understand that the Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated,’ he said. ‘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.’ 

Speaking out: Back in November, The Weeknd called the Grammy Awards 'corrupt' after he was snubbed in the nominations

Speaking out: Back in November, The Weeknd called the Grammy Awards ‘corrupt’ after he was snubbed in the nominations

Talented: The artist released the record After Hours in March to strong sales and reviews, and it won Favorite Album - Soul/R&B honors at the American Music Awards in November of last year (pictured)

Talented: The artist released the record After Hours in March to strong sales and reviews, and it won Favorite Album – Soul/R&B honors at the American Music Awards in November of last year (pictured)

Mason continued: ‘We would have loved to have him also perform on the Grammy stage the weekend before’ the Super Bowl.] Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists.’ 

‘To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd’s performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have affected the nomination process. All Grammy nominees are recognized by the voting body for their excellence, and we congratulate them all.’

Asked by Variety about The Weeknd getting shut out, Mason said at the time, ‘It really just comes down to the voting body that decides. 

‘We have eight nomination slots to fill in [the Big Four categories: Best Album, Song, Record and New Artist], five in others, and the voters vote for their favorites. It’s really interesting, though.’

Golden: The Weeknd first graced the Grammy Awards stage in 2016 as he accepted the gong for Best Urban Contemporary Album for Beauty Behind The Madness, as well the award for Best R&B Performance for Earned It

Golden: The Weeknd first graced the Grammy Awards stage in 2016 as he accepted the gong for Best Urban Contemporary Album for Beauty Behind The Madness, as well the award for Best R&B Performance for Earned It

Mason opened up about the process Grammy officials take to suss out which performers are nominated, and in what categories.

 ‘We look at it every year and make tweaks and revisions to the process; we did it this year, last year, we’ll do it next year. And I don’t think this calls it into question, honestly,’ Mason said. ‘The process is there so we can continue to monitor excellence.’

The Weeknd first graced the Grammy Awards stage in 2016 as he accepted the gong for Best Urban Contemporary Album for Beauty Behind The Madness, as well the award for Best R&B Performance for Earned It.

Following the successful release of his third studio album Starboy, he earned the Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album during the 2017 ceremony for three total in his career.

Highlight: Last month, The Weeknd hit a milestone in his career as he was surrounded by masked dancers and a robot choir during his COVID-friendly Super Bowl LV halftime show in Tampa, Florida which was met with generally positive reviews

Highlight: Last month, The Weeknd hit a milestone in his career as he was surrounded by masked dancers and a robot choir during his COVID-friendly Super Bowl LV halftime show in Tampa, Florida which was met with generally positive reviews

 Last month, The Weeknd hit a milestone in his career as he  was surrounded by masked dancers and a robot choir during his COVID-friendly Super Bowl LV halftime show in Tampa, Florida which was met with generally positive reviews.

Regardless of the Grammy snub, the singer is seeing the most success of his career as it was reported by Variety earlier this week that hit Blinding Lights is the first song in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to remain in the Top 10 for an entire year.

The upbeat track from the artist previously set a record by remaining in the Top 5 for 43 weeks.

The previous Top 10 record was held by Post Malone, whose Circles spent 39 weeks in the upper part of the charts.

The next milestone on tap is the Imagine Dragons’ streak of 87 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 with their 2012 track Radioactive.

Peak of his powers: As if that already wasn't enough earlier this week it was reported by Variety that hit Blinding Lights is the first song in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to remain in the Top 10 for an entire year, as the single comes from his successful album After Hours (pictured)

Peak of his powers: As if that already wasn’t enough earlier this week it was reported by Variety that hit Blinding Lights is the first song in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to remain in the Top 10 for an entire year, as the single comes from his successful album After Hours (pictured)