The Grammys held their 67th ceremony last week and along with it came monumental nominations and wins. Beyoncé became only the 4th black woman to win Album of The Year with her 2024 album Cowboy Carter, sparking controversy over the nature of Grammys genre nominations.
The Grammys has long been criticized for restricting their black artists to the “Rap” and “R&B” categories. Only 9 ceremonies ever featured black artists winning in the 4 main categories: Record of The Year, Album of The Year, Song of The Year, Best New Artist.
In 2006, the R&B category (Rhythm and Blues) was introduced to the Grammys, a category dominated by black artists. While an important stepping stone for getting lesser known artists recognition, the category also serves as a box for artists to be forced into. Black artists continue to release widely received music every year, yet The Recording Academy seldom recognizes them in the mainstream media. Often their race takes a bigger role in their nominations than their music does. If an artist is black, they’re music is R&B. End of story.
Time and time again, black artists with albums just as mainstream as white artists are neglected for nominations in larger categories.
When Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday released many were surprised it was not nominated in the Album of The Year category despite going certified platinum and topping the Billboard 200 following its release.
That same year, Kanye West’s, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy won Best Rap Album at the Grammys after debuting at number 1 on the Billboard 200. Despite this, the album remained stuck in the rap category, not getting even a nomination for Album of The Year.
And black artists can even get pigeonholed into the Rap category when their albums aren’t of the genre.
In 2020, Tyler, The Creator’s IGOR won Best Rap Album despite being widely regarded as alternative pop on release, even by the artist himself. The album was not considered in the Album of The Year category.
The Recording Academy’s nominations are not based on the quality of an album, but rather what they believe they can sell to their mainstream white audiences. An artist’s music can be genre-bending and innovative, but if they are black audiences only expect the genres of R&B and Rap.
This year, however, the Grammys were flipped on their head with black artists sweeping 3 of the 4 main categories.
Along with Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us won the main categories of Record of The Year and Song of The Year. However, most monumental was Beyoncé winning Best Country Album.
If a black woman winning Album of the Year is rare, a black woman winning Best Country Album is extraordinary. Beyoncé became the first ever to achieve this, breaking the status quo and redefining the Grammy’s ideas of who could be a country artist.
While there is always more work to be done, this year’s ceremony demonstrates great progress for black artists everywhere.
