It Actually Happened, The Brit Awards Have Admitted They Need to Improve Diversity

It feels like the issue has been figuratively inflamed ever since those first flamethrowers ignited the stage at The Brits 2015, to show that Kanye had brought along a whole cross section of black British music that had been otherwise ignored. Later, Skepta sampled one of the 127 OFCOM complaints about the performance in his 2015 banger "Shutdown". But last night, on the eve of the 65th Brit Awards, the organisers behind the show finally admitted that they need to take a look at the diversity within their nominations, the way success is measured, the way their academy is selected, the way genres are recognised, and, in general, the way they represent the broad spectrum that is British music.

It's been a long time coming, but the last four weeks have been key. When this year's nominations dropped on January 14, the outcries intensified about the ongoing lack of diversity at the awards show, from MCs and commentators alike; about how artists who are acknowledged at BET Awards abroad (Stormzy and Fuse ODG), score number two albums (Krept and Konan), and are celebrated by titans like Kanye West and Drake (all of BBK), still can’t get a look in, or even sometimes an invite, to their own domestic music awards.

In "One Take Freestyle", Stormzy labelled the situation “embarrassing”, following on from Lethal Bizzle who had already put his opinion forward in "Dude". In our January piece, 'The Brit Awards are Broken', we wrote that: "While #OscarsSoWhite might be trending on Twitter for the very same reason, hardly any widespread dissent seems to be directed towards the Brits – perhaps because it's become so accepted they neglect to recognise anything beyond Brit school fodder that nobody cares anymore." We also stated that the show needed to reconsider the structuring of the competition, so that it could even begin to recognise genres outside of the humid atmosphere beneath James Bay’s hat.

Into February, the issue continued to snowball, and that widespread dissent did start to bubble, with the standard Change.org petition that comes with any 21st century outcry, and even a BBC Radio 4 segment from John Humphrys of all people, about the lack of grime represented. Last night though, the issue went fully national when Channel Four handed over an entire portion of their evening news show to journalist Jasmine Dotiwala to explore the lack of diversity, by hosting interviews with Big Narstie, i-D’s Hattie Collins, Logan Sama and more.

“The only diversity in the Brits is with the Americans," explained Big Narstie. "I’ve been saying this for a while, for our country to do good, we need to embrace our country. Years ago when I was making music, I was sending it off to radio stations and getting told it was ‘too urban’. But what else am I supposed to make? I come from Brixton. None of my friends go to places like Selfridges. I’m a regular at the pound shop! So what am I supposed to impress you with?”

Back in the studio, Krishnan Guru Murthy interviewed Krept and Konan, asking the pair if they felt UK hip-hop and grime was perhaps just too marginal, and excluded itself, by its very nature, from mainstream acknowledgment. To which Krept replied: “We are forced to be doing this independently. We are not being acknowledged by the Brits so what else do you expect us to do? We are going to make independent music. We’re not excluding ourselves purposefully, like, ‘No, sorry Brits, we don’t want nothing to do with you.’ If you acknowledged us in the first place, we’d be there. You’d see us there. If there was an urban category, we’d be there.”

The Channel Four news segment came with a prepared Brits response, and news that the reporter responsible, Jasmine Dotiwala, had been signed up to join a new “diversity panel”, suggesting that the Brits; organisers were made aware that it was coming. So, while the majority of the outcry so far had been kept to the Internet and tracks themselves, it seems the national exposure of Channel Four's evening news provoked the previously guarded Brits organisers – see chairman Max Lousada in the Evening Standard on Feb 19th, who, when asked about the issue, said: “You have to realise that some of the criteria is about representing the acts that have sold the most” – to issue an actual statement of intent, rather than just fanning their hands at it like a bad fart.

The Brits issued this statement to the Mirror last night: "There are no individual awards for specific genres however, and since only a small number of BRITs are awarded every year, the artists who are honoured tend to be those who have achieved the very highest levels of chart success."

“Given the rapidly changing landscape of music consumption, it may now be time to take a fresh look at the metrics around the Brit Awards to ensure they reflect the full range of engagement with recorded music.”

They have also announced plans to restructure the genres acknowledged and to improve the diversity of music rewarded at the show, stating: “The Brits organisers are, with the guidance of a new advisory committee comprising respected members of the Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) music community, exploring a number of initiatives that will enable the event to more effectively acknowledge diverse, breaking and established talent in future, including exciting genres, such as grime, which aren’t always considered mainstream but are growing in popularity.”

And finally, much like the demands for similar transparency around the Oscars this year, the bosses have agreed to assess the diversity of the voting academy: “The Academy is refreshed annually, but for all future Brits a survey of its members will be undertaken so that their diversity in terms of age, ethnicity, gender and regionality can be assessed and acted on where required.”

"This information has not been requested of members previously, but while expertise remains the prerequisite, The BRITs wish to ensure the Academy is also as broadly representative and diverse as possible, in line with future social trends."

We've been harsh critics of the Brit Awards in the past few years, for its stubborn refusal to acknowledge any of the points above, so it's only fair that we give them some credit for making the steps needed to change things. But this isn't purely about acknowledging more black music – as Krept & Konan stated in their interview, the majority of the attendees at their show are white – it's about acknowledging a whole section of British youth culture that seems to be repeatedly overlooked. Just imagine guys, a British music awards ceremony that isn’t purely based on records sold, chart positions, and Radio 1 A-list prominence?

Whether tonight’s show will go off with a bang, or whether it will just feel like a star studded episode of Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, is unknown. The truth is, for many of us, the whole thing will be haunted by the spectre of this issue, and we’ll all be thinking more about the acts who aren’t there, than the acts who are. Basically, bring on Brits 2017!

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