The Lord giveth, but the Stellar Gospel Awards taketh away. The committee for the Stellar Awards has decided to rescind their nomination for Kanye Wests The College Dropout, which was given a nod for Rap/Hip-Hop CD of the Year category. In a statement, officials explained the basis for the removal. The reason for removing the CD from the ballot is that some of the songs on the CD contain explicit lyrics and the CD carries an explicit language warning symbol on its cover, therefore it did not meet the Stellar Awards criteria, the statement read. Apparently, the committee misunderstood the totality of Wests work due to the hit song Jesus Walks, but were educated that some of the album contains explicit content of a worldly nature. After being made aware of the explicit lyrics in the other songs from the CD, the Stellar Awards nominating committee felt the CD lyrical selections were not in the best interest and spirit of gospel music, the statement continued. Therefore, the Kanye West CD was immediately removed from the Hip Hop CD of the Year category and the entire ballot. The Nominating Committee even apologized to their base for the inclusion of West on the ballot in the first place. The Stellar Awards Senior Management and the Nominating Committee certainly did not intend to offend the Gospel Music Community with this glaring oversight. We have implemented corrective actions to make sure that such an error never happens in the future The full list of nominees for the 2005 Stellar Awards will be sent out on Sept. 17.
The Lord giveth, but the Stellar Gospel Awards taketh away.
The committee for the Stellar Awards has decided to rescind their nomination for Kanye Wests The College Dropout, which was given a nod for Rap/Hip-Hop CD of the Year category.
In a statement, officials explained the basis for the removal.
The reason for removing the CD from the ballot is that some of the songs on the CD contain explicit lyrics and the CD carries an explicit language warning symbol on its cover, therefore it did not meet the Stellar Awards criteria, the statement read.
Apparently, the committee misunderstood the totality of Wests work due to the hit song Jesus Walks, but were educated that some of the album contains explicit content of a worldly nature.
After being made aware of the explicit lyrics in the other songs from the CD, the Stellar Awards nominating committee felt the CD lyrical selections were not in the best interest and spirit of gospel music, the statement continued. Therefore, the Kanye West CD was immediately removed from the Hip Hop CD of the Year category and the entire ballot.
The Nominating Committee even apologized to their base for the inclusion of West on the ballot in the first place.
The Stellar Awards Senior Management and the Nominating Committee certainly did not intend to offend the Gospel Music Community with this glaring oversight. We have implemented corrective actions to make sure that such an error never happens in the future
The full list of nominees for the 2005 Stellar Awards will be sent out on Sept. 17.
