Earlier this week, it was revealed a petition had been filed on Change.org by music fan Max Krasowitz asking the National Academy of Recording Arts to update their laws on what music can be considered for a Grammy. According to current laws, a musical release can only qualify for Grammy nomination if it is “commercially released in general distribution in the United States”, meaning popular artists who release their music for free—such as Chance The Rapper (who has already signed the petition), Future, and Young Thug—have no chance of being recognised for such works.
While the powers that be might not acknowledge these artists and their contributions to music (they haven’t officially commented on the petition but are reportedly reviewing the current policies), we fully support their creative efforts. To shed some light on these artists, we’ve chosen eight mixtapes from the past decade we believe are amazing and should have been Grammy contenders.
- Words: Tobias Handke