Grammys 2021: Best Children’s Music Album nominees ask to withdraw from category, citing lack of diversity

‘After a year of national reckoning around race and gender – the numbers are unacceptable’

Rachel Brodsky
Los Angeles
Thursday 10 December 2020 23:32 GMT
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Justin Lansing and Joe Mailander of The Okee Dokee Brothers
Justin Lansing and Joe Mailander of The Okee Dokee Brothers

Three of the five artists in the Best Children's Music Album category have asked that the Recording Academy rescind their 2021 Grammy nominations, citing a lack of diversity in the list, Pitchfork reports.

Alastair Moock & Friends, the Okee Dokee Brothers, and Dog on Fleas wrote in a letter posted to Instagram that they "are deeply grateful to the Recording Academy and its voting members for the honor we’ve received, but we can’t in good conscience benefit from a process that has – both this year and historically – so overlooked women, performers of colors, and most especially Black performers."

The letter continues:

"In the past 10 years, only about 6 percent of nominated acts have been Black-led or co-led, another 8 percent or so have been non-Black-POC-led, and around 30 percent have been female led. These numbers would be disappointing in any category, but – in a genre whose performers are unique tasked with modeling fairness, kindness, and inclusion; in a country where more than half of all children are non-white; and after a year of national reckoning around race and gender – the numbers are unacceptable."

The Okee Dokee Brothers won a Grammy in 2013 for their album Can You Canoe?, while Alastair Moock & Friends have been nominated twice in the past.

The two additional 2021 nominees, Joanie Leeds and Justin Roberts, did not sign the letter.

When reached for comment, Leeds told Pitchfork that after much consideration, she believed that rescinding her nomination would be counterproductive to her album's message. 

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"After many conversations with Family Music Forward members and my fellow male nominees, it was collectively determined that removing it from the ballot would be counter to the message of my album and my goal for gender equality and inclusion of women in the music industry."

In response to the first letter, the Recording Academy's Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer Valeisha Butterfield Jones told Pitchfork:

"Fostering more opportunities for women and people of color in the music community is one of the Recording Academy’s most urgent priorities. In launching the Black Music Collective and partnering with Color of Change, among other initiatives, we have been making progress and still have work left to do. The slate of nominees for this year’s Grammy Awards are among the most diverse and we will continue to push for even greater inclusion and representation. We have met with Family Music Forward and others to reaffirm our commitment to drive necessary change. We are confident that together our industry can keep moving forward."

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