Sean “Diddy” Combs took on the Recording Academy – and the music industry in general – on the eve of the Grammy Awards.
Combs, who was honoured Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel with the Salute to Industry Icons Award, delivered a speech that went on for more than 40 minutes in front of stars like Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Janet Jackson, Cardi B, Dua Lipa, Keith Urban and Canada’s Joni Mitchell.
“Truth be told, hip-hop has never been respected by the Grammys. Black music has never been respected by the Grammys to the point that it should be,” he said. “For years we’ve allowed institutions that have never had our best interests at heart to judge us. And that stops right now.
“I’m officially starting the clock. You’ve got 365 days to get this s**t together. We need the artists to take back control, we need transparency, we need diversity.”
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Combs urged the artists and music executives in the room to use their power to effect change.
"We decide what’s hot. If we don’t go, nobody goes. If we don’t support, nobody supports,” he said. “We control what’s cool, we control what’s hot. We control what your kids listen to, what they dance to.”
Combs dedicated his award to several black artists for albums that got snubbed by the Grammys: “Michael Jackson for Off the Wall, Prince for 1999, Beyoncé for Lemonade, Missy Elliott for The Real World, Snoop Dogg for Doggystyle, Kanye West for Graduation and Nas for Illmatic.”
Accepting her award, Janet Jackson noted that she has been a part of the music industry for 47 years. “That’s a long time and I still enjoy going to work and I feel very blessed to still have my journey ahead of me,” she said.