Storming The Recording Academy

The Grammys day-after

Beyoncé at the 65th Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Crypto.com Arena on February 5, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)

Some men just want to watch the world burn, and all of those men happen to be Recording Academy voters. I’m currently catching up on The Last of Us, but I’m spiritually recovering from the Grammys last night. A few thoughts I jotted down post-show, pre-bed last night:

Beyoncé, the winningest artist in Grammy history, loses Album of the Year to Harry Styles

Yes I had to say “winningest,” because it’s such a slay when the sports people use that word. 

I know I don’t have to build a case for Renaissance here — the production, the vocals, the queer culture references and kapow! adlibs. My god! I loved this thought from Rolling Stone staff writer Larisha Paul, speaking to Teen Vogue: “For me, what separates Beyoncé from the masses is her insistence on music consumption being geared towards complete bodies of work. Your interest in the album isn’t driven by how sticky the lead single may be, but by the attention to detail and the sheer history lessons on Black and queer culture hidden in the layers of harmonies – the kind you have to sit and spend time with in an intentional manner in order to fully comprehend and appreciate.” “Break My Soul” — my least favorite Renaissance track — losing to a Lizzo song for Song of The Year felt kind of whatever to me. Renaissance losing Album of the Year (to Harry Styles’ Harry’s House) felt like a disgrace.

hunter harris @hunteryharris

reminder, from 2017 nytimes.com/2017/02/06/art…

But I started watching the show last night with low expectations. I think a lot about a New York Times story from 2017, when Lemonade was in contention. Grammy voters, the paper reported, had a lengthy discussion about Lemonade featuring rock and country songs alongside Beyoncé’s typical R&B and pop. “There was a ‘very spirited debate that took maybe five minutes’ and included several voters’ suspicions that by recording a rock song and a country song (‘Daddy Lessons’) on her album Lemonade,” an unnamed executive told the Times, “Beyoncé was trying to ‘run the table’ on nominations in a diverse group of categories.”

Paul McCallion @OrangePaulp

once u remember that the average Grammy voter is a 90 year old white dude who made a million dollars in 1950 sound engineering an album called something like “Dance, Mr. Goldstone!” these decisions make a lot more sense

Ever since that story, I’ve watched the Grammys dispassionately. The bar black women have to clear is always different, or higher. The Grammys eschew almost every opportunity to see black music as more than a ratings play. The winningest musician in history has never made an album of the year? It’s been 30 years since a black woman has made a deserving album? Ikyfl.