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beyonce accepting record of the year at the 2025 grammy awards
beyonce accepting record of the year at the 2025 grammy awards
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SBU | Culture > Entertainment

Love It or Hate It

Mary Quinn McNaughton Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

On Sunday, February 2nd, Beyonce won her very first Album of the Year award at the 67th Grammy Award Ceremony. 

Of course, everyone, including myself, has something to say about it. Every social media platform was buzzing with the news, some ecstatic and others incredibly disappointed.

As a die-hard Charli XCX fan, I was incredibly disappointed that she didn’t take the coveted award. I really thought she had it in the bag after essentially reviving club culture and pop/dance music itself. She changed fashion, advertising, partying and created a massive social media and lifestyle movement that lasted over four months.

Despite my feelings about Charli’s loss, I have come to understand why Beyonce took home her 35th Grammy. The answer is simpler than you’d think.

The Recording Academy is done with boring, vanilla music.

Gone are the days of tired, painfully consistent albums and songs. Making music that’s new? Fresh? Exciting? Outside the box? Pushing boundaries? Causing a scene? Give it a year and you just might be taking home a prestigious award.

Wondering how I came to this conclusion? Let’s take a look at some of the winners.

Sabrina Carpenter took it home for “Espresso”. Charli XCX won with “Von dutch”. Doechii became the third woman to take home a Grammy for Best Rap Album for “Alligator Bites Never Heal”. “Not Like Us” winning was a huge moment. Back at her house, Chappell Roan has a California King and a Grammy for Best New Artist. 

What do these albums have in common? They’re NEW. 

Until now, there has never been a sound like that of Sabrina Carpenter. “Short n’ Sweet” has never been done before-there has never been a more sexually explicit yet socially acceptable and strangely feminist album before. Charli XCX literally PARTYGIRL’d her way to EDM-princess-ship. There will never be another “Brat”, and she literally changed the trajectory of the summer and club culture. Those are just two of some of the winners, but each of them did something brand new, something unexpected.

Beyonce did just that, too!

Not only was a Beyonce country album completely out of left field, but it felt authentic. It was something that no one was expecting from her, but she did it anyway, and did it well. Her album made it obvious that Beyonce was in it for more than the money or the recognition or fame- she was in it for the art. 

So, yeah, maybe your favorite didn’t take home an award, but consider this- was their music too familiar? Your answer lies in the answer to that question. 

Mary Quinn McNaughton

SBU '26

Mary Quinn, known as MQ to most, has been a Her Campus contributor at St. Bonaventure University for three years!
Mary Quinn is currently a third-year honors student studying English with a passion for writing, service and social media marketing. Aside from Her Campus, Mary Quinn writes for PolitiFact NY, a media organization dedicated to publishing the whole truth, as a political reporter. She is the St. Bonaventure University English Department's social media manager and she works with the Student Government Association (SGA) as her class's president. She also serves as co-president of Break the Bubble and is involved with SBU College Democrats, the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), Badminton Club, SBU Orion and the SBU Indigenous Student Confederacy (ISC).
In her time away from academics, Mary Quinn loves spending time with her friends, roommates and girlfriend. She enjoys online shopping, listening to new music and reading. Mary Quinn absolutely adores cats, and though she is highly allergic to them, spends any free time she can at the Cattaraugus County SPCA. Mary Quinn's shining star achievement is that she was awarded "Camp Gossip" two years in a row. She believes that any problem can be solved by a quick scroll on "X," a hot gossip sesh with her roommates, "Mean girls" by Charli XCX, water from the Hickey Dining Hall and Trader Joe's soup dumplings.