At the 2020 Grammy Awards, rapper Tyler, The Creator was honored in the Best Rap Album category with his album Igor. Despite this victory, the American artist was divided. On the one hand, he was "grateful." On the other, he felt that qualifying his music as "rap" was a "backhanded compliment." "Why can't we be in pop [referring to the category]?" he lamented after the ceremony. The issue, he believes, goes beyond the question of style: "I don't like that 'urban' word – it's just a politically correct way to say the n-word to me."

Tyler, The Creator's words were quickly followed by action: A few months later, the label Republic Records, which represents Drake and The Weeknd, announced an end to the use of the term "urban" in its descriptions of departments, job titles and musical genres. The Universal Music Group subsidiary invited "the rest of the music industry" to follow suit.

The Recording Academy, which organizes the Grammy Awards, also announced the renaming of certain categories: Best Urban Contemporary Album, for example, became Best Progressive R&B Album. As Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told Variety, "It's all part of what I hope will be a new chapter in our history. We're listening to and learning from our partners and constituents and stakeholders; we're trying to make sure we're able to pivot and change and adapt; and we want to be really inclusive."

'Black people, you're in that category'

The American rapper's stunt echoed a criticism of the "urban music" label already voiced in France. Back in 2014, rapper Disiz spoke out on the subject in an interview with Purebreak, focusing on the Victoires de la Musique, France's most prominent music awards show. "At the Victoires de la Musique, there isn't even a rap category, it's 'urban cultures.' When I was nominated [in 2006], I found myself alongside a reggae singer and a zouk singer. Basically, it's 'Black people, you're in that category.'"

In 2022, rapper Gims took up the issue: "They put us in categories. When people talk about 'urban album of the year,' it's like saying 'it's the sub-album of the year.' It's pejorative. We've got to stop with that," he commented, expressing the desire to create his own Victoires de la Musique.

A year later, a music awards ceremony celebrating "popular cultures" was born: Les Flammes. For media outlets Booska-P and Yard, which initiated the project, the evening "celebrates and repositions popular cultures (...) because it celebrates cultures from working-class neighborhoods and the creativity of those who make them grow." The second edition of the event will be held in Paris on Thursday, April 25.

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