Whereas accepting the Dr. Dre International Influence Award on the 67th Grammys on Sunday, Alicia Keys celebrated trailblazing feminine producers, her fellow musicians and the facility of variety.
Keys, who gained the award for musical theater album through the Grammys Premiere Ceremony held earlier within the day for “Hell’s Kitchen,” was described as “a global force” as she was offered the Influence Award by Queen Latifah.
“This is not the time to shut down the diversity of voices,” stated Keys throughout her acceptance speech. “We’ve seen on this stage talented, hard-working people from different backgrounds with different points of view and it changes the game.”
“DEI is not a threat, it’s a gift,” she added.
Keys’ remarks had been among the many direct rebukes to the present political local weather made by varied musicians over the course of Sunday’s telecast. Earlier within the ceremony, Girl Gaga — who gained the Grammy for pop duo/group efficiency with Bruno Mars — declared “trans people deserve love” and “the queer community deserves to be lifted up” when accepting her award. Shakira, who gained for Latin pop album, devoted her win “to all my immigrant brothers and sisters in this country.”
Different political remarks included these from Chappell Roan, who has spoken out about rising up queer within the Midwest and who gained the Grammy for brand spanking new artist, calling on document labels “to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection.”
Keys’ celebration of variety comes at a time when initiatives selling DEI — variety, fairness and inclusion — have been more and more attacked and rolled again.
“The more voices, the more powerful the sound,” stated Keys in her speech. “When destructive forces try to burn us down, we rise from the ashes like a phoenix. And as you see tonight, music is the unstoppable language that connects us all.
“Let’s keep showing up with compassion, with empathy, what I call soul care. Keep opening the doors, the dreams that the world is ought to be. Dream the world as it ought to be, as the great Toni Morrison said.”
