Adele Grammy Win Causes Upset, Grammys Tell Critics To Be Proactive Voters

British-born songstress Adele caused a huge upset at the 2017 Grammys when she bagged Album of the Year for "Hello". That is because the other contender was Beyoncé herself, whose "Lemonade" lost out. This is Queen Bey's third loss in the said category and records show she's never won in that area.

That is why critics have been hitting the 2017 Grammys, as it appears that The Recording Academy have a problem with hip-hop and black people. Even Adele was heard asking, "What the f--- does she have to do to win album of the year?"

Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner, a Grammys critic, said that he expected such a result. Such a reaction was common among people Billboard spoke to, the publication wrote. And these very same people all agreed that Beyoncé's submission for the 2017 Grammys was much better compared to Adele's.

Academy chairman and CEO Neil Portnow told naysayers that being a critic is one matter and that they should join the voting process to enact change they want to see. Indeed, most people who have been discontent with The Record Academy's decisions are the ones who do not cast a vote. Terrace Martin, an artist-producer, is also a 2017 nominee who said that he has been trying to convince his friends to vote. Had they done so, perhaps Beyoncé would have been the main star of the night instead of Adele.

Portnow's and Martin's comments hold water. Vox made an analysis of the reason why Adele won and showed that vote-splitting was the main reason why. Most Academy voters are old, white, baby-boomers who tend to favor the kind of music they find appealing to themselves. That is why only 10 black musicians have been awarded the Album of the Year accolade so far since it was first given in 1959.