MC Lyte Pens an Open Letter to the Hip-Hop Community

With final voting ballots for the 57th Annual Grammy Awards due tomorrow, Friday, January 16, the clock is ticking for eligible members of the Recording Academy to turn in their picks for the artists who will walk away with trophies when the Grammys air on CBS on Sunday, February 8, 2015.  Hip-hop pioneer MC Lyte recently penned an open letter to the hip-hop community, remembering when hip-hop artists boycotted the 31st Annual Grammy Awards in 1989, and explaining in great detail how anyone who meets the criteria for voting membership in the Recording Academy can—and should—vote on the awards each year.  Following Macklemore’s sweep (and Kendrick Lamar’s presumed snub) at last year’s ceremony, and the increasing feeling that black artists are being squeezed out of categories like hip-hop and R&B, Lyte’s letter   comes at the perfect time for both artists and fans to get a better understanding as to how the voting process works and the services the Recording Academy provides beyond the annual awards ceremony.  MC Lyte is the former president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Recording Academy, and has also served as a governor and trustee of the chapter.  Read her letter on HipHopDX here.

MC Lyte Pens an Open Letter to the Hip-Hop Community  was originally published on ionetheurbandaily.staging.go.ione.nyc