The Recording Academy is ditching the Best Urban Contemporary Album label.
On Wednesday, the Recording Academy announced a renaming and redefining of the category that's set to take effect immediately for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Best Urban Contemporary Album will now be known as Best Progressive R&B Album.
"I'm excited to announce our latest changes, as we're constantly evaluating our Awards process and evolving it to ensure the GRAMMY Awards are inclusive and reflect the current state of the music industry," Harvey Mason Jr., chair and interim president/CEO of the Academy, said in a press release on Wednesday. "The Academy accepts proposals for rule changes from members of the music community throughout the year that are carefully reviewed and, if accepted, ultimately ratified at our annual Board meeting, a process that we are proud to have continued in this challenging year."
For now, however, this doesn't mark the total removal of the widely criticized "urban" label from the Grammys. For example, while the Latin Rock Urban or Alternative Album has been renamed Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album, the category formerly known as Latin Pop Album is now named Best Latin Pop or Urban Album.
The Recording Academy's announcement follows word from Republic Records earlier this month that it would no longer use "urban" and urged other labels to follow their lead.
Other changes announced on Wednesday include renaming the Best Rap/Sung Performance category to Best Melodic Rap Performance, revising the eligibility for the Best New Artist category to remove a specified maximum number of releases prohibiting artists from being nominated, and more.
