Afrigather Let me make this tremendous duper uber clear: It doesn’t matter that Beyoncé misplaced the album of the year Grammy in 2023, in addition to in 2017, 2015 and 2010.
In fact Renaissance was the most effective album of the final yr and most critics deemed it such. However in relation to the Grammys, and nearly all of its voters, artists like Beyoncé gained’t ever win and that’s high-quality.
As a result of on the finish of the day Beyoncé is Beyoncé — a famous person singer and dancer who has advanced with every album she has launched. She has carried out the unthinkable. She has defeated the percentages. She has damaged the web. She has rewritten historical past. She has modified the sport.
The explanation albums come out on Fridays as a substitute of Tuesdays? Beyoncé did that. Artists deciding to shock drop music and never pre-announce releases? Beyoncé once more. She’s one of the vital spectacular visible artists however was nonetheless in a position to launch a groundbreaking and daring album with out accompanying music movies or movies.
I knew Queen Bey had no likelihood of profitable album of the yr for Renaissance — after years of overlaying the Grammy Awards and predicting winners, it was clear she was going to lose. The voters don’t recognize the sort of artwork Beyoncé presents. As a substitute, they’re embarrassingly conventional — you’ll get golden factors for strumming a guitar or banging on the drums, however for the epic runs Beyoncé sings on “Plastic Off the Sofa”? Nothing. For the artful lyricism on “Heated”? Nothing. For the complexities and intricacies of “Church Girl,” a tune you’ll be able to shake your ass to and reward the Lord above, on the identical time — not a rattling factor.
That’s simply it — individuals like Beyoncé and all of hip-hop, primarily Black and Brown of us — don’t get technical factors in relation to Grammy votes. The voters don’t perceive the lyrical element. They don’t perceive the cadences. They miss the epic metaphors. They discover the creative beats noisy and disruptive and assume the profound singing is loud and obnoxious.
And right here’s the factor — they in all probability by no means will perceive the music.
It’s why you’ll see Bruno Mars — an especially proficient singer, songwriter, producer, guitarist and drummer — be the closest factor to a R&B star win album, tune and document of the yr in the identical yr. It’s why Beck, a performer, multi-instrumentalist, engineer and producer, will succeed over Beyoncé. It’s why U2 will prevail over Kanye West and Mariah Carey’s still-fire comeback album The Emancipation of Mimi. It’s why Arcade Fireplace will beat out Eminem, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will get extra votes than Lil Wayne. It’s why Unhealthy Bunny may actually dominate the whole world and be diminished to a few Grammy nominations, solely to win a single award in a Latin music class.
The Grammys have made some modifications to its voting physique — even requiring older voters to indicate they’ve latest credit in music to maintain their membership. They’ve added 2,000 new members final yr however that doesn’t imply a factor when 11,000 individuals have a say. Modifications had been made, however a significant overhaul is important to appropriate the voting tradition of the awards present.
Perhaps that may occur. It in all probability gained’t. And we don’t care — as a result of profitable a Grammy is cute, however it’s not for the tradition.
