Taylor Swift Fans Are Turning On Frank Ocean For This Open Letter

Dear Swifties: you are completely missing the point about Frank Ocean's 1989 "diss." Ocean, who did not attend the 2017 Grammys as a boycott against the Recording Academy for the organization's lack of representation of people of color, penned an open letter on his personal Tumblr that called out Taylor Swift. The letter, which was addressed to the creative team behind the Grammys who criticized Ocean's 2013 performance at the Grammys as "not great TV," stated: "[Y]ou know what’s really not ‘great TV’ guys? 1989 getting Album of the Year over To Pimp a Butterfly. Hands down one of the most ‘faulty’ TV moments I’ve seen." Naturally, some of Swift's fans went in on Ocean:

Here's the thing: Ocean wasn't "dissing" 1989. He didn't even claim it was a bad album. He's merely calling out the Grammys for not rewarding artists of color — even ones making major waves in the music industry. Many believed that Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly did just that... yet Swift's album, full of mainstream pop hits, was crowned winner instead. But Ocean's gripe isn't just about one snub. Sadly, the trend of white artists winning over Black artists is a continuous trend. I love me some Adele, but was 25 really as deserving of Album Of The Year as Beyoncé's surprise visual album Lemonade? It feels like a gross redo of Beyoncé's loss to Beck in 2015. 1989 may have been my personal favorite album of the year, but the pop star's win doesn't exist in a bubble. Whether you believe that Swift deserved to score the AOTY award or not, the rapper is making real, valid points about how whiteness is rewarded. Maybe it's time we all listen.