Joe Budden’s Thoughts On The Grammy Awards: A Candid Discussion

Joe Budden, former rapper, podcast host, and entrepreneur, recently sparked a lively discussion on the relevance of the Grammy Awards on his podcast. The Grammy Awards, long considered the premier awards show in the music industry, have been the subject of much debate in recent years, with many artists, including Budden, questioning their validity and significance.

Budden posed three questions to his co-hosts Ish, Ice, Queenzflip, and Parks, seeking their views on whether the Grammys still hold significance, for whom they hold significance and the reasons for their significance.

Parks weighed in, stating that recognition from one's peers is important and the Grammys provide this recognition, even if the voting process needs fine-tuning. Ish opined that the Grammys matter to labels as they are essentially a money game, and the labels want to see their artists win. This recognition can propel an artist's career and change their name, resulting in a price hike.

Ice added that as an artist's career advances, they may not be as concerned with Grammy nominations or awards, as they understand the awards are not always a true reflection of artistic merit, but rather a result of who's spending money to promote their artists. Flip simply stated that he wasn't interested in the Grammys and didn't watch them.

Budden shared that the Grammys don't matter to him at all. He remembered being excited about his Grammy nomination at 21 but quickly became disillusioned. He said: “I got there and I learned that this was a pre-tv category and you lost before you even get the ticket for your seat.”

“I will never come back there. This is a lot of commercials and a lot of AD money. Then throughout my career, I learned about AD money and just how it works and with a better understanding and where I was going in my career with independence, I was out of the Grammy game”: he added.

According to Budden, the awards are only important to those they should matter to, such as the fans who watch the awards to see who the best performers are according to the awards show. He also believes that the awards are used by the industry to try and program people's thoughts and opinions, but he refuses to let them have any influence on him.

In conclusion, the hosts of the podcast discussed their thoughts on the relevance of the Grammy Awards in today's music industry, with opinions ranging from recognition from peers to the commercialization of the awards show. Ultimately, they all agreed that the awards matter to some extent, but not to everyone in the same way.

Watch Joe Budden's podcast episode