Who doesn’t love the first album from Silk Sonic, “An Evening With Silk Sonic“? That CD was a hit with everyone from moms and dads to aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins, and kids. So, why aren’t they entering it for the 2023 Grammy Awards?
Rappers Bruno Mars and Anderson. In April, Paak “swept” all of the Grammys they were up for with their smash hit “Leave the Door Open,” taking home awards for best R&B performance, song of the year, a record of the year, and best R&B song.
Silk Sonic will not submit their album for the Grammys
A Night Spent With Silk Released in November 2021, Sonic would have been nominated for several prestigious 2023 Grammy Awards, including album of the year, best R&B album, and best-engineered album (non-classical), among others.
With albums like Beyoncé’s Renaissance, Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights, Brent Faiyaz’s WASTELAND, Giveon’s Give or Take, The Weeknd’s Dawn FM, and Lucky Daye’s Candydrip, I was excited to see how this album would do against some of the year’s most critically acclaimed R&B/Pop releases.
Mars, however, told The Hollywood Reporter that Silk Sonic was withdrawing from record submissions “gracefully, humbly, and most importantly, sexually.”
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He explained, “The minute the world reacted to ‘Leave the Door Open,’ Andy and I and everyone who worked on this project triumphed.” The rest was simply a bonus. We appreciate the Grammys for giving us the opportunity to play twice on their stage and for the prize we received at last year’s event. There’s no way we could ever ask for more.
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Silk Sonic has been such a delightful highlight of our previous few concerts and they rightly had a fantastic night at the 64th Grammys earlier this year, said Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. in a separate statement. We respect their wishes and won’t be submitting this year, but we’re looking forward to a fantastic musical year with them.
That begs the question, why?
Is it because they want to give other musicians a shot at winning some hardware? Since his first Grammy triumph in 2011 for “Just the Way, You Are,” Mars has gone on to win many more. Since then, he has received 31 nominations and 15 victories. Before his victory with Silk Sonic, Paak had already won four times.
Does the pair want other musicians to have a shot at taking home some hardware, or are they simply being nice? Perhaps, but I highly doubt it. Both of these individuals are artists, and artists are often competitive with one another.
Are you kidding me? Do they have second thoughts about maybe losing? Try to ponder it for a moment. They swept the board last year, so anything less than a clean sweep this year would be a disappointment. If a famous musician or actor did withdraw their nomination, it wouldn’t be the first time. In 2018, months before the Grammys, Drake deleted his 2022 nominations. The Canadian rap star received nominations in two very competitive categories. He probably decided it wasn’t worthwhile to try since he wasn’t given any special treatment in either. How about Silk Sonic, are they the same way?
Or maybe they want to steer clear of any potential drama. Many have (incorrectly) claimed that Bruno Mars steals styles from other cultures for his own musical projects; since the publication of An Evening with Silk Sonic, I can attest that this accusation has gained some traction.
Could it be so they don’t have to face scrutiny over the songs’ themes? The Forty-Five wrote an article not long after the release of their first album that analyzed the sexism and misogyny that Silk Sonic appropriated from the music of the past and argued that the band should have kept it out of their own work.
Whatever the case may be, Silk Sonic and their infectious enthusiasm won’t be present at the 2023 Grammy Awards.