Album of the Year is a remarkable award given to an artist, in which the anticipation takes us on the edge of our seats. Natalie Cole and outstanding vocalist, Whitney Houston, have previously won AOTY, when 1999 Lauryn Hill was presented with this exceptional award. One of the most beautiful albums and one of my favorites, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, was her first solo album that won AOTY, as she was the first Hip-Hop artist to win.
February 2nd, 2025, long overdue, Beyonce Knowles-Carter was gifted with Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter. AOTY, she did win! Her albums, I am….Sasha Fierce, Beyonce (my absolute favorite of hers), Lemonade, and Renaissance have all been nominated for AOTY in the past. In my opinion, she should have received AOTY when she was nominated for I am…Sasha Fierce. I mean, Single Ladies continually became a hit after it was released. Throughout this album, she proved producers and the audience wrong by delivering an all black and white album when told it was not going to sell. I think that calls for Album of the Year itself.
Snub after Snub Beyonce repeatedly got overlooked for AOTY. Prior to Cowboy Carter, all her album nominations played a phenomenal role in the chance to receive this marked award. On December 13th, 2013, on a random Friday she decided to drop Self-Titled that made the world stop. After rumors of Sean Carter having an affair, she released Lemonade that went through glimpses of infidelity and the couple of stages of grief; intuition, denial, anger, depression, acceptance, and redemption with one of the loveliest songs “All Night”.
Representation matters when it comes to Black males as well! Stevie Wonder has won Album of the Year three times in 1974, 1975, and 1977. Michael Jackson’s studio album, Thriller, involving some of his songs, “Billie Jean”, “P.Y.T.”, “Thriller”, and “Wanna be Startin’ Somethin’ ” won AOTY in 1984. Other former Album of the Year winners, Lionel Richie, OutKast and Ray Charles, have also opened up the door for Black males who want to branch out and show their musical gifts.
Although only four African American women have won AOTY when other Black women with large discographies have been nominees, in general, seeing successful Black creators up on stage doing what they love is inspiring knowing there is no ceiling above our heads. While it is controversial whether the Grammy’s is biased towards Black artists, these incredible singers and rappers have the chance to show the world and other African Americans that we can enter into spaces, genres, and show our own craft with no limits.