Many people on Twitter were not happy about Alessia Cara winning Best New Artist at the 60th Grammy Awards on Sunday night. There was criticism about her qualifications of being a new artist since her debut album, Know-It-All, was released in fall 2015. The album included her debut single “Here,” which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Despite delivering a powerful acceptance speech at the Grammys, she still received backlash. Cara went to Instagram on Monday to post an open letter that addressed the criticism and hate messages she has received singer her win.
“To address the apparent backlash regarding winning something I had no control over: I didn’t log onto grammy.com and submit myself. That’s not how it works,” she wrote. “I didn’t ask to be submitted either because there are other artists that deserve the acknowledgment. But I was nominated and won and I am not going to be upset about something I’ve wanted since I was a kid, not to mention have worked really hard for.”
She continued, “I’m aware that my music wasn’t released yesterday, I’m aware that, yes, my music has become fairly popular in the last year…I will not let everything I’ve worked for be diminished by people taking offence to my accomplishments and feeling the need to tell me how much I suck.”
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Cara won over R&B singers Khalid and SZA, rapper Lil Uzi Vert, and pop artist Julia Michaels.
According to The Recording Academy, “previous Best New Artist rules were amended to remove the album barrier given current trends in how new music and developing artists are released and promoted.” In order to be eligible for a Best New Artist nomination, the artist:
- Must have released a minimum of five singles/tracks or one album, but no more than 30 singles/tracks or three albums.
- May not have entered into this category more than three times, including as a performing member of an established group.
- Must have achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and impacted the musical landscape during the eligibility period.
In other news, Cara is nominated for three iHeartRadio Awards including Female Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration (“Stay” with Zedd) and Dance Song of the Year (“Stay” with Zedd). The award show will take place on Sunday, March 11 at Forum in Los Angeles, Calif.
