On Sunday night, Beyoncé became the most-awarded individual in the history of the GRAMMY Awards. During the 65th annual ceremony, the singer won her 32nd trophy for Best Dance/Electronic Music Album for her album, Renaissance. The award officially took her past conductor Georg Solti, who long has held the record with 31 competitive wins.
Later that night, however, Beyoncé lost the show’s most coveted prize, Album of the Year, in what is widely believed to be a major upset. The award went to Harry Styles’ Harry’s House. It’s the fourth loss for Beyoncé in the category, which her husband, JAY-Z, believes is a “missed opportunity” on the GRAMMYs’ part.
In a pre-GRAMMYs interview with Tidal on Feb. 1, the rapper shared his perspective on how hip-hop artists — and Black artists in general — haven’t gotten their “due” at the GRAMMYs.
“The truth is, we grew up wanting to be on the GRAMMYs, and it was our goal. We just want them to get it right. That’s what we want,” he told the outlet. “Obviously, it’s music and it’s all subjective, but you got to be in the ballpark. That’s all we want. We just want them to get it right because we love it so much. We grew up watching Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder won three out of four years in a row. They got that s**t right. … It was no politics. It was just like everybody knew when Stevie came out, sit down. That’s what we want. Just get it right, because we love it so much. That’s why there’s so much emotion around it. If we didn’t care, there wouldn’t be any emotion.”
When JAY-Z was nominated for eight awards and went home with none for 2017’s 4:44, he referenced the loss in his follow-up album with his wife, The Carters.
“In that moment, I was like, ‘They missed the opportunity,’ because people emulate success,” he said, referencing the “Apes**t” lyric calling out the awards show. “I didn’t feel bad for myself, because I know it’s the GRAMMYs: I probably won some joints I shouldn’t have won and I probably lost some joints I should’ve won. That’s the way it goes, so I actually had a party.”
He pointed out the similarities with Beyoncé’s losses, particularly against Beck in 2015 and Adele in 2017. “Even with Bey, I felt like they missed the moment… I was like, ‘Oh, y’all missed it,'” he added.
When asked why he believes Beyoncé deserves Album of the Year for Renaissance, the rapper pointed out that all one had to do was “look what it’s done to the culture.”
“Look how the energy of the world moved. They play her whole album in the club. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that. The whole entire joint — like, everything?! Every remix is amazing. Everyone’s inspired. It has inspired the world,” he continued. “Every remix is better than the other one. From anybody, we’re just finding these joints out in the street… It’s inspiring creativity… When it just inspires creativity, that’s an album. That has to be Album of the Year. It has to be.”