Black Twitter is still simmering with rage over the Grammys Motown tribute featuring 50-year-old Jennifer Lopez incorporating her Las Vegas show into a Motown revue. Many believe The Academy of the Recording Arts could have found someone more suitable than “culture vulture” J-Lo to represent the historic label.
Lopez lip-synced over classic Motown tracks with Smokey Robinson (pictured above), Ne-Yo, and host Alicia Keys (pictured below left).
One irate Twitter user wrote: “Umm i could have thought of about a million other artist better for this performance other than @JLo.”
While another user commented: “Jennifer Lopez is doing the Motown tribute and when Janelle Monae [sic] is right there and I just don’t understand the creative decision.”
After J-Lo’s performance, someone at Motown updated the label’s official Twitter account with a half-apology and a gentle reprimand to continue celebrating Motown’s significant cultural relevance.
“REGARDLESS OF FEELINGS AND OPINIONS ABOUT THE #GRAMMYS TRIBUTE PERFORMANCE, CAN WE TAKE A MINUTE TO CELEBRATE THE HISTORY AND THE POWER OF #MOTOWN, ITS ARTISTS AND ITS MUSIC? #MotownDiditFirst”.
The Motown tweet has since been deleted.
Following the backlash, Lopez said she was thrilled at her performance. She insisted that it was a tribute to her mother – who used to play Motown hits when she was growing up.
“It was for my mom. I could cry. It’s such a good moment. It’s just a dream come true. Singing up there with Smokey Robinson, like, I gotta pinch myself. I grew up on all those songs and because my mom loved him so much she passed him on to us.”
Culture vultures misappropriated Black music long before Lopez took the stage to deliver her Motown tribute performance at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday.
Every year Black viewers abandon the Grammy Awards in droves as the Academy erases the ‘Black’ from Black music in favor of more popular mainstream artists such as Lopez, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, and Drake.
Photos by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy, Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
