EXCLUSION OF BLACK UK ACTS SPARKS OUTRAGE AT BRIT AWARDS!

THE LACK of diversity in this year’s BRIT Award nominations has sparked the hashtag #BritsSoWhite, with social media condemning the ceremony’s exclusion of the UK’s black music stars.

Stars including grime duo Krept & Konan and south London rapper Stormzy, who have each made chart history in the last 12 months, failed to land a nomination ahead of next month’s awards show.

“None of my Gs nominated for Brits? Embarrassing. Last year, they told the mandem that to be nominated you’ve gotta go on UK charts,” Stormzy fumed on his track One Take Freestyle, released on Sunday (Jan 24).

“Last year, they told the mandem that to be nominated you’ve gotta go on UK charts. So what do we do? We chart. Don’t come here with your lies, don’t start,” the double MOBO Award-winning star went on.

In an interview with Radio 1, the unsigned 22-year-old, who made it to No.7 in the charts – beating The X Factor’s Christmas single in December – criticised the awards for overlooking “grime and underground music”.

He said: “It was such a great year for grime and underground music… I thought maybe this year it might get celebrated.”

“You know when you’ve got that little bit of hope and that little bit of faith, and then they didn’t. I thought it was such a shame. It’s just a matter of breaking the doors down and carrying on”.

According to a BBC Newsbeat report, which included a statement from The Brits regarding the nomination of the late singer Amy Winehouse, they confirmed: “Amy’s able to be nominated for British female solo artist because her album Amy (Original Soundtrack Album) was released and went into the Top 40 between 21 July 2014 and 10 December 2015 – the eligibility period.”

Krept & Konan’s debut album The Long Way Home charted at No.2 in the UK when it was released in July 2015.

UK singer Lianne La Havas’ album, Blood, which was also released in July, peaked at No.2.

Two songs from UK singer’s Ella Eyre Feline album, released in August, made it to the top 40, while X Factor runner-up Fleur East stormed to No.3 with debut singleSax, taken from 2015’s Love, Sax and Flashbacks.

NO NOMINATION: Fleur East

“Perhaps the saddest part of the BRITs failing to nominate any black British talents is the fact that it’s not surprising,” said The Voice newspaper’s entertainment editor Davina Hamilton. “Those of us with any affiliation with the black British music scene are all too aware that traditionally, the event has failed to recognise the successes of the UK’s black music talents.”

Drawing reference to the notorious incident where UK singer Craig David failed to win any of the six awards he was nominated for in 2001, Hamilton said this year’s nominations, 15 years after the fact, was “simply embarrassing and inexcusable”.

EMPTY-HANDED: Craig David failed to win any of the six awards he was nominated for at the 2016 ceremony

“Craig David failing to win any of the six BRIT Awards he was nominated for in 2001 is undoubtedly the most memorable example of this exclusion. But to continue this trend in 2016 is simply embarrassing and inexcusable.”

She went on: “A few years back, it might have been easier to sideline acts like Stormzy and Krept & Konan because they were underground stars. But both these acts went on to make chart history – not in some obscure underground chart that the mainstream had never heard of, but in the UK national charts.

“Having built huge fanbases completely independently, they are now part of the fabric of modern British music. It really makes you wonder what black British talents need to do in order to be considered worthy of BRIT recognition.”

#BritsSoWhite follows the global outrage at the upcoming Oscars, which failed to acknowledge black actors in the most prestigious categories, prompting the #OscarsSoWhite movement.

The gravitas of #OscarsSoWhite forced The Academy to take greater steps to improve diversity.

We have contacted The Brits for comment and are awaiting their response.