{"id":29918,"date":"2023-11-10T11:02:31","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T16:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=29918"},"modified":"2023-11-10T11:02:31","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T16:02:31","slug":"drag-queen-flamy-grant-removed-from-grammys-contemporary-christian-category","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2023\/11\/drag-queen-flamy-grant-removed-from-grammys-contemporary-christian-category.html","title":{"rendered":"Drag Queen Flamy Grant Removed From Grammys Contemporary Christian Category"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_29921\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29921\" style=\"width: 768px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2023\/11\/flamy-grant-drag-queen_credit-@flamygrant-youtube-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29921\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2023\/11\/flamy-grant-drag-queen_credit-@flamygrant-youtube-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29921\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">flamygrant \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As awards season approaches, the Grammys have moved to push drag queen Flamy Grant\u2019s album <\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Bible Belt Baby<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0from the Contemporary Christian category to the Best Pop Vocal Album category. The Recording Academy, which oversees submissions to the Grammys and determines their eligibility for certain categories, released a\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.getreligion.org\/getreligion\/2023\/11\/1\/rolling-stone-readers-will-be-shocked-flamy-grants-cock-and-bull-tale-of-oppression\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">statement<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0saying the move was due to the explicit lyrics in the album. \u201cRe-categorizing recordings with explicit language\/content has been a standard practice for the Gospel &amp; CCM genre committee, given that the Gospel &amp; CCM Field consists of lyrics-based categories that reflect a Christian worldview,\u201d wrote the Recording Academy. The album\u2019s song, \u201cEsther, Ruth, and Rahab,\u201d includes an explicit word for male genitalia and numerous other obscenities, including the f&#8212; and a&#8211;.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Grant, whose real name is Matthew Blake, took to Facebook to lament the change. \u201cI know next-to-nothing about the Grammy nomination process, so when we saw you couldn\u2019t vote for it in best contemporary Christian [music] album, I just assumed that was the end of the road,\u201d he <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/culture\/pride\/drag-artist-flamy-grant-removed-grammys-christian-category-1235462499\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">wrote<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. He then stated that he received a call from an Academy member who was \u201cexcited to vote for me in best pop vocal album.\u201d \u201cPop music is included in the contemporary Christian category. The only logical conclusion I can come to is that someone in the Academy decided my album qualifies as pop, but not as Christian,\u201d he wrote.\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/grammys-move-drag-queen-singer-album-christian-category-1234866265\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Rolling Stone\u2019s<\/span><\/em><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Ethan Millman stated the change was a disadvantage to Blake because he would \u201cnow be measured against the likes of the world\u2019s biggest superstars as opposed to a smaller niche of peers from the Christian music community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Blake also compared himself to the prophets Hosea, Ezekiel, and Isaiah, saying he identified \u201cwith the obscene ones,\u201d noting how Isaiah \u201cspent three years naked to grab the attention of an unjust society.\u201d The story of Isaiah preaching naked is found in Isaiah 20:1-4 and there is some\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gotquestions.org\/Isaiah-preach-naked.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">debate<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0as to whether the \u201cnaked\u201d used in the passage refers to complete nudity or Isaiah wandering in a loin cloth of some type. According to the passage, God instructed Isaiah to do so to demonstrate how God would allow the Assyrians to overtake the Egyptians and Ethiopians. Blake stated that \u201cqueer Christians\u201d were \u201camong the most faithful because of the cruelty we must navigate.\u201d \u201cIf a queer person still identifies as a believer in 2023, that\u2019s a faith no straight person can begin to understand,\u201d he wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He also defended his explicit lyrics in \u201cEsther, Ruth, and Rahab,\u201d call it \u201cthe most biblical song I\u2019ve ever written.\u201d \u201cI intentionally chose words like c&#8212; and f&#8212; when writing \u2018Esther, Ruth, and Rahab\u2019 because it is an indictment of Christian culture that elevates men while diminishing women and queer folks (not to mention people of color, folks with disabilities, and other marginalized groups),\u201d he wrote. \u201cMy faith journey has been long and difficult, but I\u2019m still here, still taking up space in Christianity, still advocating for the inclusion of queer kids like me who grow up in these churches that ignore and oppress them.\u201d He then faulted the Grammys for \u201creligious gatekeeping.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m very used to gatekeepers in the worlds of church and Christian music \u2014 that\u2019s a big part of why I\u2019ve dedicated myself to this work. But I never expected to encounter religious gatekeeping at the Grammys.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Blake has faced some criticism from the Christian music industry, with Skillet\u2019s John Cooper recently <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2023\/10\/skillets-john-cooper-blames-weak-christians-for-appearance-of-drag-queen-at-dove-awards.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">criticizing<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0his attendance at the Dove Awards. \u201cObviously, they\u2019re just trying to get attention, they\u2019re trying to disrupt, and they\u2019re going about it in a clever way,\u201d he said of Blake\u2019s attendance with queer artist Semler and former Caedmon\u2019s Call frontman Derek Webb. Cooper was also critical of the \u201csilence\u201d of Christian outlets against Blake. In a recent podcast episode on his \u201cCooper Stuff\u201d podcast, he\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/cooperstuffpodcast.com\/cooper-stuff-ep-185-drag-queen-dove-awards-and-the-silence-of-christian-outlets-0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">wrote<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, \u201cWhere is the solidarity from the industry, or from the Christian platforms? They are nowhere to be heard. The truth will set us free, but much of American Christianity believes that the truth is impolite. I\u2019m sick of the wimpy, weak, and wokeness in our churches!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As awards season approaches, the Grammys have moved to push drag queen Flamy Grant\u2019s album Bible Belt Baby\u00a0from the Contemporary Christian category to the Best Pop Vocal Album category. The Recording Academy, which oversees submissions to the Grammys and determines their eligibility for certain categories, released a\u00a0statement\u00a0saying the move was due to the explicit lyrics&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":29921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Drag Queen Flamy Grant Removed From Grammys Contemporary Christian Category<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Grammys have moved to push drag queen Flamy Grant\u2019s album Bible Belt Baby\u00a0from the Contemporary Christian category to the Best Pop Vocal Album category.\" 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