ALESSIA CARA RESPONDS TO GRAMMY BACKLASH

​Alessia Cara responded to the recent backlash over her win for Best New Artist at this year's Grammys. While some were applauding Alessia for being the only female artist to win in one of the major categories, a lot of people, including myself were not criticizing Alessia, but rather the academy, for allowing her to win Best New Artist, when she's been out since 2015. Some are making the argument that this year is the year that Alessia broke out and gained mass recognition which is why she is eligible for the award, but I really must beg to differ on this one. 

In 2015, Alessia released her debut album on the strength of her debut single "Here," which reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified 3x platinum. Yes--Alessia Cara's debut single sold three million copies in 2015. Alessia's album Know-It-All also peaked within the top 10 of the Billboard 200 at number 9...in 2015. 

Alessia's second single "Wild Things"  was released on February 2, 2016 (two years to the date of this article). It wasn't as successful as "Here" and only managed to peak at number 50 on the Hot 100 chart. However, "Wild Things" still managed to sell a million copies and was certified platinum in the United States--pretty impressive. 

The third single from Alessia's debut, which came out in 2015, was "Scars to Your Beautiful," which became another top 10 hit for Alessia in 2016 and was certified double platinum. In the meantime, Alessia's 2015 debut album was also certified platinum off the strength of her three platinum hit singles. ​

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. 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. I meant everything I said about everyone deserving the same shot. there is a big issue in the industry that perpetuates the idea that an artist’s talent and hard work should take a back seat to popularity and numbers. and 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. but I’m trying very hard to use the platform I’ve been given to talk about these things and bring light to issues that aren’t fair, all while trying to make the most of the weird, amazing success I’ve been lucky enough to have. 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. here’s something fun! I’ve been thinking I suck since I was old enough to know what sucking meant. I’ve beat u to it. And that’s why this means a lot to me. despite my 183625 insecurities, I’ve been shown that what I’ve created is worth something and that people actually give a shit. all of the years feeling like I wasn’t good at anything or that I was naive for dreaming about something improbable have paid off in a way that I have yet to process. I know it sounds cheesy and dumb but it’s the honest truth. thanks to everyone who’s shown me kindness and support along the way. I’ll stop talking now.

A post shared by ALESSIA CARA (@alessiasmusic) on Jan 29, 2018 at 10:21am PST

According to the Academy, the best new artist grammy is  "For a new artist who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording which establishes the public identity of that artist" I guess the Academy doesn't consider releasing two top 10 multi-platinum singles, a third platinum single, and a platinum album as establishing Alessia's public identify. It must be her featured vocals on other artist's records which established her public identity. 

​Nevertheless, Alessia took to instagram to play the victim for people pointing out the simple fact that Alessia, with her platinum album and platinum singles from three years ago is not a new artist. Somehow, she's making this about her prior self-esteem issues. I'll pass on feeling bad and reiterate that you are not a new artist and someone dropped the ball on this one. It's very simple #facts! ​