Dear Swifties: you are completely missing the point about Frank Ocean's 1989 "diss."
Ocean, who did not attend the 2017 Grammys as a boycott against the Recording Academy for the organization's lack of representation of people of color, penned an open letter on his personal Tumblr that called out Taylor Swift. The letter, which was addressed to the creative team behind the Grammys who criticized Ocean's 2013 performance at the Grammys as "not great TV," stated:
"[Y]ou know what’s really not ‘great TV’ guys? 1989 getting Album of the Year over To Pimp a Butterfly. Hands down one of the most ‘faulty’ TV moments I’ve seen."
Naturally, some of Swift's fans went in on Ocean:
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I wanna slap Frank Ocean with @taylorswift13's 10 gramophones! ? #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/3Gk4AQZPYN
— Micoleen Lontoc (@coleenlontoc26) February 13, 2017
Frank Ocean: "I can get trendy by dragging Taylor Swift since THAT is trendy" pic.twitter.com/sQG1NBo3JQ
— ÷ rosa ÷ (@89squeen_) February 12, 2017
This Frank Ocean's trying to bash Taylor just to stay relevant
— bluette✨ (@iamallblue) February 13, 2017
1989 deserved album of the year and Frank Ocean needs to leave Taylor Swift out his grammy rants #GRAMMYs #taylorswift13 #frankocean
— karebear (@karen_19_88) February 13, 2017
To Frank Ocean,
— justine swift. (@simplyjstine) February 13, 2017
Taylor is still one of two women who won album of the year twice and 1989 is still the most awarded pop album of all time
Here's the thing: Ocean wasn't "dissing" 1989. He didn't even claim it was a bad album. He's merely calling out the Grammys for not rewarding artists of color — even ones making major waves in the music industry. Many believed that Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly did just that... yet Swift's album, full of mainstream pop hits, was crowned winner instead.
But Ocean's gripe isn't just about one snub. Sadly, the trend of white artists winning over Black artists is a continuous trend. I love me some Adele, but was 25 really as deserving of Album Of The Year as Beyoncé's surprise visual album Lemonade? It feels like a gross redo of Beyoncé's loss to Beck in 2015.
1989 may have been my personal favorite album of the year, but the pop star's win doesn't exist in a bubble. Whether you believe that Swift deserved to score the AOTY award or not, the rapper is making real, valid points about how whiteness is rewarded. Maybe it's time we all listen.