The 66th annual Grammy Awards show was hosted on Feb. 4, and through celebrity speeches and emotional reactions of fans on social media, there is a conversation around how in 2024 the Grammys are possibly snubbing and disrespecting black artists.
Other than SZA winning best R&B song for Snooze and iconically running off stage before everyone saw her cry and Victoria Monét winning best new artist, there were a lot of wins and joyful moments shared at this years Grammy. Yet, we have to talk about a hot topic of that night: Jay-Z’s speech that called out the Grammy’s for the inconsistency within their own award metrics.
“She has more Grammys than anyone and never won album of the year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work,” said Jay- Z, as he received the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award for his achievements in hip-hop culture.
Jay-Z is referring to his wife Beyonce loosing album of the year for albums such as “Lemonade,” released in 2016, and her most resent one “Renaissance,” released back in in 2022.
Furthermore, Adel, who won best album for “25,” even made a speech nodding at the fact that the award for best album should go to Beyonce for “Lemonade,” at the 2017 Grammy Awards.
“I can’t possibly accept this award… This album [Lemonade] was so monumental, and so well-thought-out and so beautiful and soul-bearing…and all us artists here, we f—ing adore you,” said Adel while accepting her Grammy.
Jay- Z went on to further say how he loves the Grammys and still thinks people should show up and support, yet the Grammys needs to do better at getting it right and acknowledging those who are really impacting the music industry.
“It shows how much a person can pave the way for certain things and still get played on,” said Kay Alexandrya, a licensed esthetician in New York in a TikTok video on Feb 5.
The internet is split between Jay-Z’s moment and whether it was disrespectful or appropriate. In fact, some are even trying to compare the moment to what Kanye West did to Taylor Swift at the 2009 VMA awards.
On one hand, a lot of people are bringing Swift’s name into the narrative and discussing how it was disrespectful towards her and her accomplishment of winning album of the year for Midnights. Yet, on the other, people are standing with what Jay- Z said as it was for advocacy for the black community. He was calling out the Grammys itself, during a moment that he had every right to speak his truth.
“I’m not liking this narrative out here that I keep seeing people comparing Jay Z’s moment to Kanye’s VMA moment in 2009… he had every right to be there and speak his mind… this was not about her [Taylor Swift ].” Said Kj Miller, founder of Mented Cosmetics and lecturer at Yale, in a TikTok video on Feb. 4.
In the past, the Grammys have had accusations of snubbing black artists and every year it seems like there has to be a conversation surrounding what categories black people have won, versus the awards they are potentially being robbed of.
The last black artist to ever win album of the year was Lauryn Hill in 1999, making it 25 years since a black artist received album of the year. Overall there has been 11 black artists in total to win a Grammy for album of the year, three being black women.
This year’s Grammys show brought up important conversations surrounding the black community and the black history within the music industry.
