As a majority of us know, the most anticipated day for music just passed: the Grammys. This year, there were a lot of highlights, such as Taylor Swift announcing her new album, Miley Cyrus winning her first Grammy, and Billy Joel performing on stage for the first time in more than two decades, to name a few. But award shows always come with drama, and for some, it was rapper Jay-Z’s award acceptance speech.
On Feb. 4, 2024, Jay-Z alongside his daughter Blue Ivy, went up to accept the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award and he had a lot to say about the way the Grammys were selected and voted upon. He starts his speech in gratitude but then delves deeper into stating that “She has more Grammys than everyone and has never won album of the year.” Insinuating that he was talking about his wife, Beyoncé, it seems as though he is just annoyed that she didn’t win the prestigious award. But then Jay-Z proclaims that “Some of [the AOTY award nominees] don’t belong in the category.” Which really ruffled some feathers.
But why does this all matter?
Some of Taylor Swift’s beloved fan base, known as the Swifties, took great offense to what Jay-Z had to say. Before the Grammy’s even began, Beyoncé had been nominated six times for Album of the Year and received zero, while Taylor had won three out of the six, she was nominated for. There seems to be some irony in Jay-Z’s speech because Swift took home the award once again after his speech. His previous statement of some people not belonging to the category suddenly turned against him. Some Swifties, including a talk show host from The View believe that it appears to throw shade at Swift and takes away from her taking home title of Album of the Year at the end of the ceremony.
The Swifties also believed that the speech was delivered in a way that suggested beef between Beyoncé and Swift. From Jay-Z’s reference it appeared as if Beyoncé herself had some negative feelings towards Swift, perhaps feeling robbed. While on stage, he looked at Beyoncé and said, “I don’t want to embarrass this young lady.” Insinuating that she may agree with Jay-Z’s opinion, otherwise, what does she have to be embarrassed about?
Nothing, because Taylor Swift and Beyoncé are actually great friends! These two have been dominating the music industry lately; both went on the most record-breaking tours of their careers and then made movies about them! Beyoncé and Swift are very supportive and attended each other’s movie premieres. The fact that these two women, despite their individual success, take the time to support the other shows true friendship. TIME also reveals in the interview with Swift herself thinks Beyoncé is “The most precious gem of a person.” If someone ever said this about me, I know I would have a huge smile across my face, which to me signifies a real friendship.
But that’s not all, Swifties also believe that this incident was very reminiscent of the Kanye West moment back in 2009 at the MTV Video Music Awards. Once again, this event also had to do with Swift, and you guessed it, Beyoncé! Basically, all you need to know is that Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift mid-speech when accepting her award. He states that he was really happy for her, but that Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time. Some Swifties call Jay-Z’s apparent diss to Swift the “Kanye moment com[ing] full circle,” with Swift – once again – having her spotlight stolen.
However, there is more to this than just what the Swifties believe. Jay-Z’s comment may not even be directed at Swift, but simply at the Recording Academy itself. I would say that most people believe his comment was made to emphasize his wife’s snub as an underrepresentation of black music creators, not just at the Grammys.
Looking back, there is a lot of history of black musicians being snubbed at the Grammys. A CNN article states that black musicians represented 38% of all artists in the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021, but only received 26.8% top Grammy nominations that year (like album of the year). Black artists like Drake, Rihanna, and Jay-Z himself seem to be overlooked by the Academy. But in the end, all the decisions are made by the Academy and they could be the ones that Jay-Z is truly mad at.
So, what do I think of Jay-Z’s speech? Is it a low blow to Taylor Swift, or is it just a simple comment directed at the Recording Academy? After a lot of thought, I believe I fall somewhere in the middle. Although, I do not believe that Jay-Z’s comment was directed solely at Swift, I do think that it was a little uncalled for to claim that people do not belong in the category, but who am I to say?