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Jay-Z denounced the Recording Academy’s snubs against his wife, Beyoncé, during the Grammys on Sunday in a speech that drew attention to the lack of recognition black artists have suffered at the esteemed awards show.
Greg Carr, associate professor in the Department of African American Studies at Howard University, says the music industry was built on exclusion.
“Once exclusion was no longer an option, the inclusion of black music has been selected, at least historically, very carefully, to absorb that music while minimizing black people,” he says.
During Jay-Z’s acceptance speech for the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award on Sunday, he highlighted this lack of recognition.
“We love you all. We want you to do well,” he said. “I don’t want to embarrass this young woman, but she has more Grammys than anyone and she’s never won album of the year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work.”
Beyoncé is the most decorated artist in Grammy history, securing that title in 2023 after four big wins, including best dance/electronic album for “Renaissance.” However, many fans felt she was shortchanged in the album of the year category for the acclaimed project. No black woman has won that award in 25 years.
“I don’t think Jay-Z is just talking about Beyoncé,” says Adriane Lentz-Smith, an associate professor of history and African and African American studies at Duke University. “But again to criticize the Grammys for a pattern or repeated practice of downplaying what black artists have done… in the same way that you rarely stand up for just them and give them what they should have.” “.
Beyoncé has been nominated four times for album of the year, for “Renaissance,” “Lemonade,” “Beyoncé” and “I Am… Sasha Fierce.”
“The Beatles are not black; Elvis was not black; Bob Dylan was not black. But the influence of black people allowed the incorporation of the black musical style without the black people,” Carr says.
“So when I say the system was created to center whiteness, it’s natural because that’s what the recording industry was created to do. It couldn’t stay that way because regardless of what the structures do, people are going to do something. So, in The 70s saw the growing popularity of black music around the world.“
A history of racial prejudice
Since its inception in 1957, the Grammy Awards have been accused of racial bias.
“It’s part of a longer history of taking for granted the innovations and contributions that African Americans have made to popular music and its various genres,” Lentz-Smith says. “It’s not the first time the Grammys have been criticized. It’s not the first time they’ve been asked to correct themselves and they’re not there yet.”
In recent years, the show has been tagged #GrammysSoWhite and black artists protested against attending. Many celebrities have criticized the awards show for its mistreatment of black artists.
In 2016, rapper and singer Frank Ocean decided not to submit his music to the awards as a direct response to this issue.
When it comes to album of the year, not only did the most decorated artist not win the category, as Jay-Z highlighted, but only 11 black artists have won the category to date.
Black Women and Album of the Year.
Only three black women have been awarded album of the year since it was first presented at the Grammy Awards in 1959.
- Natalie Cole (1992)
- Whitney Houston (1994)
- Lauryn Hill (1999)
Singer and rapper Lauryn Hill was the last black woman to win this category in 1999 for her debut solo album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” even though 16 black women have been nominated since then:
- TLC (2000)
- India.Arie (2002)
- Missy Elliott (2004)
- Alicia Keys (2005)
- Mariah Carey (2006)
- Beyoncé (2010, 2015, 2017, 2023)
- Rihanna (2012)
- Brittany Howard with the group Alabama Shakes (2016)
- Janelle Monae (2019, 2024)
- SHE (2019, 2020, 2022)
- Cardi B (2019)
- Lizzo (2020, 2023)
- Jhene Aiko (2021)
- Doja the Cat (2022)
- Maria J. Blige (2023)
- SZA (2024)
Beyoncé, Janelle Monae, HER and Lizzo have received multiple nominations in the category. SZA and Janelle Monae were among the nominees this year; However, Taylor Swift took home the award – the first artist to win it four times.
“I don’t think it has to be some kind of celebrity death match between Beyoncé and Taylor Swift,” Lentz-Smith says. “Calling out the Grammys for what they haven’t done for black artists is not an attempt to diminish or take anything away from other artists.”
A way forward
Album of the Year remains the most prized award on music’s biggest night. However, Lentz-Smith says it’s important to look to the past in order to move forward.
“The people who award the Grammys should pay more attention to both the origin of the music and what the Grammys have done in kind of interacting and appreciating black artists,” he says. “And when people express a complaint, don’t respond as if they are individual sour grapes. Take a second, step back and ask, ‘Is there substantive criticism there that we are safe and generous enough to hear?'”
Carer puts it clearly: “I think it all comes down to voters feeling maybe more culturally uncomfortable. And not feeling comfortable acknowledging the black presence and the black impact (in choosing) performances. But now you need to recognize that with your voting.” , because that’s where the power lies in these award hierarchies.”