Vaughn Kimmons AKA Brown Alice. Credit: Miss Lopez Media
Vaughn Kimmons AKA Brown Alice.
Vaughn Kimmons AKA Brown Alice. Miss Lopez Media

Today the Recording Academy named Portland-based artist Vaughn Kimmons (frontwoman for Brown Calculus and intergalactic-soul/hip-hop band Tribe Mars) among their invitees to join its new class of members. Plainly put: Kimmons has been offered the opportunity to become a voting member for the GRAMMY awards, the music industry’s only peer-recognized accolade. Considering the lack of women and people of color represented on the board in previous years, Kimmons’ inclusion is huge, and it’s also well-deserved.

The Recording Academy’s current membership is a bit shameful in terms of representation from women and people of color: 26 percent females, 24 percent traditionally underrepresented communities and 29 percent are 39 and under.

In response to the very apparent need for more diversity and inclusion in the music industry, Recording Academy chairperson Tina Tchen headed up a Task Force to better understand the biases and barriers that underrepresented communities face. Last November, the Recording Academy overhauled its new-member submission process for the first time in 60 years, replacing it with a community-driven membership model that lets music industry professionals recommend their most deserving peers. The 2019 numbers: 49 percent of the Recording Academy class are females, 41 percent are from traditionally underrepresented communities, and 51 percent are 39 and under.

Among the other 1,340 invitees are R&B singer Asiahn, Liana Banks, and Keithen “Bassman” Foster.

In a post on the GRAMMY website, Laura Segura Mueller, Vice President of Membership & Industry Relations at the Recording Academy, says “Our new peer-driven membership model is just one more way that the Recording Academy is evolving while also encouraging other industry companies to reinvent their own long-standing practices…. We are nurturing a more inclusive organization for our members today and for generations to come.”

The class of invitees have until voting ballot deadlines to accept their invitation and participate in the 62nd GRAMMY Awards, which take place on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles.

Jenni Moore is a former music editor and hip-hop columnist and current freelancer at The Portland Mercury. She also writes about comedy, cannabis, movies, TV, and her hatred of taxidermy.