Grammys rejected rapper XXXTentacion for 'In Memoriam' segment and fans are not okay with that

The Grammy Award ceremony had plenty of emotions, especially during the traditional In Memoriam, where they honored several artists who passed away between 2018 and 2019.

Among the people who appeared on the big screen during the ceremony, there were Mac Miller, Avicii, Nancy Wilson, Ed King, and so on. However, XXXTentacion, who passed away in June 2018 was not included, and it led people in Twitter to criticize the Grammys.

Neil Portnow, the president of the Recording Academy, was in an interview with Rolling Stone in December 2018, soon after all nominations were announced. In it, he was asked about the inclusion of XXX in the Memoriam, to what Portnow admitted it was a “daunting challenge.”

THE PRESIDENT’S THOUGHTS

“We track those that we lose in our industry in any given year and then we have a process by which we go through it. Our on-air in memoriam — we’re lucky if we wind up [featuring] 10 to 15 percent of those we lose. Because it’s always hard choices,” said Portnow.

The president then pointed out that he didn’t have an answer at that point. One of the reasons people consider XXX was not included in the Memoriam was his previous legal problems regarding domestic violence.

XXXTENTACION’S CONTROVERSIAL LIFE

As Yahoo reported, the late rapper allegedly beat his girlfriend while pregnant and even threatened to kill her and their then-unborn baby, which drove people to “boycott” him asking labels not to endorse his music. Even Spotify, one of the biggest music and podcast streaming platform, removed his music from popular playlists.

“The fact [Recording Academy] didn’t acknowledge [XXXTentacion] or [Lil Peep] in the memorial shows the upmost disrespect,” admitted a Twitter user.

“The fact that [XXXTentacion] wasn’t remembered this year at the #GRAMMYs says a lot about them,” shared a second person.

“So the [Recording Academy] didn’t honor XXXTentacion due to domestic violence but honored Jeremy Geffen who sexually assaulted people. Whew chile,” wrote another netizen.

XXXTENTACION’S DEATH

The 20-year-old rapper was gunned down on June 18, 2018, in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Two armed men in a black SUV blocked XXX’s vehicle and approached him. After stealing a Louis Vuitton bag, one of them shot the rapper multiple times and the escaped.

XXX was taken to the Broward Health North, but it was too late as he was pronounced dead soon later. Two days after the shooting, police arrested Dedrick Devonshay Williams. He was charged with first-degree murder without premeditation.

Weeks later, Michael Boatwright was also arrested, and he was identified as the man who shot XXX.