Once again, we have left Lana Del Rey hanging. In “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd,” Lana croons, “when’s it gonna be my turn?”
Well. With the 2024 GRAMMYs season officially over, Lana still has yet to get her *long-overdue* turn.
After being snubbed in 2019 for NFR, her most critically-acclaimed album, Lana’s hopes for an Album of the Year win were restored by her five nominations this year. However, Lana left the ceremony empty-handed, despite Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd arguably containing some of her best lyricism to date.
Let’s face it: Lana was absolutely robbed by the GRAMMYs. But Lana is unfortunately not alone. The GRAMMYs has a history of undervaluing some of the greatest artists, spanning decades and across musical genres.
Because I’m a long-time Lana lover, it can be easy to dismiss my qualms with the GRAMMYs as protests from a jaded fan. While there’s no denying that I am a little (maybe a lot) biased, I believe that Lana’s snub sheds light on a larger, ongoing problem with the GRAMMYs. Take this blind item from a 2024 GRAMMY voter:
Okay, so let’s not even talk about the not-so-subtle sneak diss at absolute legend Fiona Apple. While this is just one of many GRAMMY voters, I felt extremely disappointed by the reasoning used by this individual. For one, he seems to hold Lana to an unfair standard: should we really define Lana by one cringe-worthy performance from 2012 and ignore the 10+ years of her incredible music career? I find this to be extremely hypocritical, especially when these same critics advocate for “support the art, not the artist” when talking about extremely problematic male musicians.
With that being said, I can agree with this voter’s belief that Taylor Swift deserved AOTY simply because she is a defining person of the past year as a whole. At the same time, I do not understand why this rationale is then seemingly discarded during certain years.
For instance, Beyoncé has been a key figure in shaping music and pop culture for decades: so why has she yet to win AOTY after being nominated four times? Beyoncé is the artist with the most GRAMMY wins ever, so it is entirely contradictory that she has not been awarded in the most coveted category. Especially with the genre-bending, queer-influenced masterpiece that is Renaissance losing AOTY, it almost seems like Beyoncé’s remarkable ability to constantly reinvent herself has been completely discounted by the GRAMMYs.
Then again, because the GRAMMYs are run by a small voting body, these awards are not representative of an artist or musical project’s real impact. Some of my favorite musicians have never walked home with a golden Gramophone, so I am well aware that the GRAMMYs do not dictate the definition of good music.
Even though I’m still salty about the Lana snub (and even saltier about the Melodrama travesty in 2018), we may actually need the GRAMMYs as an important reminder that critical acclaim does not reflect a truly impactful musical legacy.