Needless to say, the Internet was VERY unkind to Alessia Cara after she won ‘Best New Artist’ at this year’s GRAMMYs.

Many felt as though some of the other artists in the category – more specifically R&B singer SZA – deserved the nod; SZA released her critically-acclaimed debut album CTRL back in June.

The Internet was also very upset because SZA was shut out completely at the award show, losing out in each of the five categories she was nominated in.

The backlash was so severe that Alessia Cara herself took to Instagram to address the controversy saying in part,

“I will not let everything I’ve worked for be diminished by people taking offence to my accomplishments and feeling the need to tell me how much I suck. here’s something fun! I’ve been thinking I suck since I was old enough to know what sucking meant. I’ve beat u to it. And that’s why this means a lot to me. despite my 183625 insecurities, I’ve been shown that what I’ve created is worth something and that people actually give a shit.”

 

to address the apparent backlash regarding winning something I had no control over: I didn’t log onto grammy.com and submit myself. that’s not how it works. I didn’t ask to be submitted either because there are other artists that deserve the acknowledgment. but I was nominated and won and I am not going to be upset about something I’ve wanted since I was a kid, not to mention have worked really hard for. I meant everything I said about everyone deserving the same shot. there is a big issue in the industry that perpetuates the idea that an artist’s talent and hard work should take a back seat to popularity and numbers. and I’m aware that my music wasn’t released yesterday, I’m aware that, yes, my music has become fairly popular in the last year. but I’m trying very hard to use the platform I’ve been given to talk about these things and bring light to issues that aren’t fair, all while trying to make the most of the weird, amazing success I’ve been lucky enough to have. I will not let everything I’ve worked for be diminished by people taking offence to my accomplishments and feeling the need to tell me how much I suck. here’s something fun! I’ve been thinking I suck since I was old enough to know what sucking meant. I’ve beat u to it. And that’s why this means a lot to me. despite my 183625 insecurities, I’ve been shown that what I’ve created is worth something and that people actually give a shit. all of the years feeling like I wasn’t good at anything or that I was naive for dreaming about something improbable have paid off in a way that I have yet to process. I know it sounds cheesy and dumb but it’s the honest truth. thanks to everyone who’s shown me kindness and support along the way. I’ll stop talking now.

A post shared by ALESSIA CARA (@alessiasmusic) on

 

Well in a new profile with GQ, SZA is finally speaking out about losing on GRAMMY night saying,

“I was so grateful to even have been honored by being nominated and having so many people f**k with my music. I feel like at some point you start to get sucked up into the accolades and you’re like, Oh, this is what this is about, and this is what quantifies my success or me as an artist or a human being. We reached a billion streams on Spotify. The United States f***s with my songs. We’re changing little girls’ lives across the world, and we didn’t even know what we were doing when we started. This is something much bigger than me and a fucking trophy. I’m appreciative of the opportunity. But shit happens.”

She then addressed the backlash Alessia received saying,

“You know, I never looked at the Internet [after the Grammys]. I never looked at anything anyone ever said after that online—not once. The only time I ever heard about it was in person, when someone walked up to me and was like, “You were robbed” or whatever the f**k. I was like, “I feel you.” My home girl actually showed me Alessia [Cara]’s post and I thought, This is really crazy.”

 

 

She added, “I just didn’t know how to take it. I didn’t say anything, I didn’t post, because I’ve never had to deal with anything I really believed in wholeheartedly, or invested in, and went through something that publicly before. I wanted to be honest as f**k, and if today I’m just mad as hell, I don’t want to say something that reflects me being mad as hell. But I definitely feel blessed now. I also don’t feel compelled to explain myself.

If anything, I feel compelled to express that I really, really f**k with Alessia Cara. She’s beautiful as fuck, her voice is like water, it’s like milk, I think it’s gorgeous. It has so much dimension, and she deserves every accolade that she gets. And people can’t be mad. I don’t give a f**k when her album came out! She sounds great right now!”

 

 

Definitely great to see SZA standing up for Alessia in this case.

 

For SZA’s full GQ profile, click HERE.

Filed under: Alessia Cara, GRAMMYs, SZA