GRAMMY WTF: CHILDREN'S MUSIC PROTEST

In a letter to the Recording Academy, Alastair Moock & Friends, the Okee Dokee Brothers and Dog on Fleas—all nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Children's Music Album—have asked that their names be removed from the final ballot.

"We are deeply grateful to the Recording Academy and its voting members for the honor we’ve received," they said in their correspondence, "but we can’t in good conscience benefit from a process that has—both this year and historically—so overlooked women, performers of color and most especially, Black performers.

"In the past 10 years, only about 6% of nominated acts have been Black-led or co-led, another 8% or so have been non-Black-POC-led and around 30% have been female-led. These numbers would be disappointing in any category, but—in a genre whose performers are uniquely tasked with modeling fairness, kindness and inclusion; in a country where more than half of all children are non-white; and after a year of national reckoning around race and gender—the numbers are unacceptable."

It's unclear if the Recording Academy will actually remove their names from the ballot, but the three artists have also asked voting members not to vote for them in the final round.

Read their full letter and more below.