Who is Al Walser? (Brooklyn Vegan)

The nominees for “Best Dance Music Recording” include some of the hottest tracks of the year by the biggest DJs: “Levels” by Avicii, “Let’s Go” by Calvin Harris and Ne-Yo, “Bangarang” by Skrillex and “Don’t You Worry Child” by Swedish House Mafia. 

The fifth nominated artist is Al Walser for his song “I Can’t Live Without You.”

Who the hell is Al Walser?

According to his website, Walser is a singer, songwriter, producer and CEO of Cut the Bull Entertainment. He is the author of “Make It Big,” which claims to reveal the “secret path to break in today’s music industry.” His bio calls Walser the “Secret King of Dance Radio” who “takes the dance floor by the balls and grips it there until the crowd begs for submission.”

Walser’s Twitter also says he is a “Grammy Voting Member.”

Other reasons for why Walser’s nomination is a joke? 

• All entries for the 2013 Grammy nominations were required to meet the deadline of September 30. “I Can’t Live Without You” was released on September 21.
• Walser’s music video, which is hosted on his Youtube channel, has 88,926 views. Type in “I Can’t Live Without You” in Youtube, and Walser’s track doesn’t show up.
• The song.

What about “Spectrum” by Zedd ft. Matthew Koma? Axwell's mix of Ivan Gough and Feenixpawl's “In My Mind”? “Greyhound”? Any of the songs from Kaskade’s album “Fire & Ice”?

A nomination of these songs—or any other EDM song for that matter—would have helped the Grammys push back growing resentment and accusations that the organization is no longer a legitimizer of good music.

A Twitter hashtag of #walsergate has already begun.

Walser’s bio also said, “In an era when just about anyone can try to be DJ, Al Walser excels at providing the show and soundtracks to the nights you won’t simply remember, but never forget.”

Or just never know to begin with.

Reach Associate Arts Editor Melissah Yang here. Follow her on Twitter.