DJ Steve Aoki: Grammy awards are not the ultimate benchmark of success

The 60th Grammys Awards Academy Awards are set to take place on Sunday (28 January) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

While many industry heavyweights are making their final preparations for the biggest night in music and saying their final prayers that they walk away with a gold gramophone, the long running debate about whether such ceremonies remain relevant in 2018 is still raging.

Aoki, fondly dubbed the "world's hardest-working DJ", has revealed why he thinks the Grammys isn't the only benchmark of success.

Speaking to IBTimes UK as he prepared to kick off his UK tour which included a headline show at London's O2 Academy Brixton, Aoki said the awards and many like it are not indicative of a musician's brilliance.

"It's hard to discard an institution, even if you don't like the Grammys," the 40-year-old Miami native said.

Aoki's debut studio album Wonderland was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronica Album in 2013. In 2017, his Netflix documentary I'll Sleep When I'm Dead was nominated for a Best Music Film Grammy.

"If I'm nominated it's a big deal because it's so institutionalised, but whether or not you are an artist that has taken a bite out of popular culture and affected people's lives, its definitely not the case."

The EDM producer, who has worked with industry heavyweights including Linkin Park, Blink 182, Louis Tomlinson and BTS said that, unlike the People's choice awards, Grammy winners are selected by a committee of people. Some artists themselves don't necessarily hold the whole concept of awards in high regard either.

Watch Steve Aoki and Fifth Harmony's Lauren Jauregui new video All Night:

"There's so many artists that don't even go near or skirt around the Grammys and that the Grammys don't even touch, that have a large chunk of influence and leave a legacy on culture. It's definitely one of them [benchmarks of success] but it's not the all-encompassing institution on music."

The 60th annual Grammy Awards are scheduled to be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City this Sunday. The ceremony will be hosted by James Corden for the second year in a row.