Who Attended the Grammys? HU, You Know

Many people have sat in their living rooms watching televised award shows while imagining how thrilling attending one would be: the sound of paparazzi yelling for subjects to face their cameras, blinding flashes of light, the rapid click-click-click as hundreds of photos are taken, the collective nervousness before an award is presented. 

It seems like such a distant dream for many, but for Howard students Craig Fleming, Zsana Hoskins, and alumna Precious Winston it became a reality at this year’s 65th Grammy Awards–made possible by the Recording Academy’s recent Black-oriented collegiate collaborations.  

In a five-day immersive experience, Hoskins, Winston, and Fleming got a taste of the music industry as they were whisked and wooed throughout Los Angeles to gain exposure and insight into the realities of making it in the business.  

Beginning Feb. 1, the inaugural opportunity was granted to the winners and recipients of The Recording Academy’s three latest initiatives: The ‘Your Future Is Now’ scholarship, the Quinn Coleman Memorial Scholarship, and the HBCU Love Tour. 

With each program rooted in its own partnerships, all three share the same passion of elevating Black students who are pursuing a career in music and inspiring future creators of the field. 

The family of late DJ and A&R executive Quinn Coleman created a scholarship named after him to honor his life and spread his passion for music to other Black creatives. Created in collaboration with the Grammy Museum, the fund aims to elevate and support the upcoming generations of Black musicians. 

In his application, Fleming emphasized his desire to receive mentorship. “Going into music can be very daunting because it’s such a big industry,” said Fleming. “So I put on the application how important it is for me to be able to learn because I haven’t had access to that.” 

Fleming started the six-week internship offered to recipients in January and describes his experience thus far as “life-changing” and “eye-opening.” He is an exemplary model of the endowment’s purpose, as he is a producer and songwriter who aspires to work in A&R to ensure Black artists enjoy the fruits of their labor  His passion for music is infectious, evident in his smile that beamed from ear to ear while speaking about his dreams. “I love the [entire] process of making music.” 

Until recently, Fleming had been helping the grant’s D.C. chapter prepare for the Black Music Collective’s Recording Academy Honors show, which took place in LA on Feb. 2, 2023. After arriving in LA, the scholarship’s five recipients immediately began engaging with various music legends.

A panel featuring The Dream and Nile Rodgers made it clear to Fleming that everyone he interacted with worked hard to achieve their current status. “It was really good hearing them talk about how they got started with their careers,” he said. “It’s not something that’s far away and unattainable.” He believes a person’s success boils down to how much they’re willing to work for their dreams. “I have to be back next year and every year after that. [This experience] put a fire under me to start working on what I need to do because I really want this,” said Fleming.

Similarly, Hoskins spoke highly of the endeavors that accompanied her involvement with ‘Your Future Is Now.’ Partnered with Amazon Music, the Recording Academy’s Black Music Collective (BMC) offered a $10,000 grant and a chance to partake in an immersive rotational program designed to excite future musicians. As one of the 2022 recipients, Hoskins traveled with the team to New York in September for a week-long preview of what all the Academy has to offer. According to Hoskins, the trip was an all-access pass to some of the essence behind the business. The grantees met with music executives and traveled to prominent spots like Republic Records, which offered a deeper look into Hoskins’ pursuit of her musician meets journalism career. 

“I personally want to be an EGOT winner, but music is my first love. I think that with my journalism background, covering music from the perspective of a musician has always been my goal. I want to make musicians feel comfortable with journalists again,” said Hoskins. “This program has just definitely helped me to see that there’s so many different layers to it [the industry]. It has made me look at it from a completely different perspective.” 

The BMC initially began pushing the envelope with its inaugural joint initiative, the HBCU Love Tour. In collaboration with its Grammy U division–the Academy’s collegiate membership cohort–, BMC aspired to create an entryway into the trade for young, gifted, Black students hoping to build a name for themselves. The talent showcase featured an audition process in which the first-ever winner, Precious Winston, was selected to be a finalist and compete in the showcase at Songbyrd Music House last spring. 

After stealing the crowd with her original composition, “They Say Pride is a Sin, ” Winston was well on her way to future openings and interactions with some essential figures at the Academy. She believes it was ultimately the connections and relationships she had built within the division that led to her invitation to Grammys weekend. 

“That was my first real visit to LA, so even that was just a new beginning for me. And because of the schedule, I was able to meet with producers… I was able to shoot a video for my art collective out here called ‘Afro Soul Sound’,” Winston said. “Materially, they gave me a very necessary resource to see LA as a beacon of music industry resources. 

“Metaphorically it was just a big affirmation; Feeling like I’m on the right path essentially, and feeling like there are people that are worthy to have an opinion about music who think that I have something special.” 

Throughout the week, the Howard affiliates sat in on exclusive dinners honoring heavy hitters in music; panel discussions with renowned producers like London On Da Track and Murda Beatz; and attended numerous networking parties where they walked amongst the stars of the show and witnessed first-hand what a night out in Hollywood could look like. Winston recalled conversations with Robert Glasper and Corey Henry, coupled with the spotting of famous faces such as Missy Elliot and Lil Wayne at the Honors show or Chance the Rapper just from stepping off the plane at LAX.  

An impactful moment for Winston and Hoskins was demystifying the awards show’s processes. Through sessions with the Academy’s leading departments, they left with a deeper understanding of how the Grammys work. This illuminated their knowledge of the methods behind the madness often seen with the nominations and selections. 

Yet, the main element that stood out to Winston was the camaraderie of the weekend. Admirably, she vouched for the level of sincerity and connectedness that could be seen in just about every room. “A lot of people are friends in the business and that made me feel better about making connections and realizing that to get into the rooms you want to get to, it’s not only through

having a strong resumé,” said Winston. “There are people who have real friendship connections, who have decided just to take that journey and succeed together. And that’s something I really worry about, making art for the sake of art without real relationships behind it.” 

While the itinerary for the trip may have been laid out prior to arrival, the real inside scoop is the mystery behind the beloved award show. Sitting down with some of this year’s attendees, the answer to the big question was revealed: What really goes down at the Grammys? “It was very… all over the place,” said Fleming. 

According to his account, celebrities waited until five minutes before the awards show aired to rush into the venue, many ignoring the ushers’ instructions to take their seats. Nevertheless, he highlighted the benefits of being able to have access to industry giants as they provided him with encouragement and urged him to keep in touch.

“It was a bunch of people that do what I want to do. They’re well in the game, and I’m connecting with them. That’s what we need as Black students upcoming, we need more of that. It was just great.” Fleming said. 

For Hoskins, simply “being in the room with all that greatness” and sharing it with other people who had similar interests was enough to fulfill her childhood dream of attending the Grammys. 

“It made me realize that you can do it [be successful]; it doesn’t have to be so far away. Honestly, going to the Grammys–that was it for me. That’s what I wanted to do when I was a kid. So it’s kind of like, ‘Okay, where do we go from here?’ But it is definitely possible.” said Hoskins. 

The Recording Academy has been working to make that sense of attainability accessible to all Black creatives. Under the scope of recently appointed Black CEO Harvey Mason Jr., the corporation has instituted these opportunistic resources in order to improve the quality of its relationship with people of color. According to Winston, maintaining trust with these communities and their respective genres is a crucial stepping stone to bettering the organization as a whole. 

“They’re doing a real revamping of the Recording Academy, at least trying to get back to being better to a lot of the forgotten communities. We’re [the cohort] a big part of history because the Academy is really trying to turn a new leaf to be more, I would say, empathizing to those that have been contributing to the [music] game since the start, which is a lot of times Black people–specifically Black R&B and hip-hop artists,” she said.

The three Bison agreed their years at Howard jump-started their endeavors leading up to and during the Grammys. “I feel like the things I’ve been doing [here] really prepared me to talk about myself in a good way where I can share my passions,” Fleming said. “Some of the people I’ve been able to meet at the University really poured so much into me and helped me get opportunities like these.” Hoskins recognizes that “Howard’s name rings bells,” something that could have played a part in her acceptance into the ‘Your Future is Now.’ 

Fleming applauds the School of Communications (SOC) for allowing students to experiment with different aspects of the entertainment profession. He believes this educational approach empowers students and builds their self-confidence. “It allowed me to see what direction I wanted to go in, and I was able to talk about myself a little bit better,” he said. 

For more information on how to apply or learn more about the HBCU Love Tour, the ‘Your Future Is Now’ scholarship, or the Quinn Coleman Memorial Scholarship, please refer to the hyperlinks attached. 

“These initiatives uplift artists in both music and production and grant them the ability to discover themselves within the industry and decide what path they want to take on their professional journey,” said Winston. 

“People need to apply for these scholarships. There are so many people at Howard that are talented, and they need to know about these things,” said Fleming. “We need to put SOC on the map. I really want everybody to be able to tap in, be confident, and be able to elevate themselves.”