NYT: Grammy's relevance depends on Beyoncé winning AOTY

[Dojo 19,365]

It’s Beyoncé’s Time to Shine at the Grammys … Right?

This year more than most, public perception of the Grammys’ relevance may come down to the fate of a single artist. A prominent win for Beyoncé could be seen as an overdue make-good, which is something of a Grammy specialty. But a notable loss could call into question the redemption narrative that the Recording Academy, the institution behind the awards, has been carefully tending for years, as it has tried to address longstanding criticism that the show too often fails to recognize Black talent with top awards.

That complaint, along with suspicions about the voting process, has led some high-profile Black artists to abandon the Grammys in recent years, like Drake, Frank Ocean and the Weeknd. But there are also some signs that the awards may be changing. Last year, Jon Batiste, the Black jazz bandleader, took home album of the year, and in 2021 a Black Lives Matter protest anthem by H.E.R. won song of the year. A push to attract a younger and more diverse voting pool has resulted in 19 percent more women and 38 percent more members of “traditionally underrepresented communities” since 2019, the academy says.

 

Those numbers would seem favorable for Beyoncé. But her track record in album of the year, traditionally the most coveted prize, is especially wrenching. In 2010, her “I Am … Sasha Fierce” lost to Swift’s “Fearless.” In 2015, Beck’s mellow “Morning Phase” was the upset winner, beating out Beyoncé’s internet-breaking, self-titled surprise LP. Two years later, when Beyoncé’s paradigm-shifting visual album “Lemonade” lost to Adele’s “25,” Adele seemed almost embarrassed to accept the award, calling Beyoncé the “artist of my life.”

 

Should Adele win a third album of the year trophy on Sunday, with “30” — or if Styles, Abba, Coldplay or Brandi Carlile comes out on top — it would be the fourth time that Beyoncé has lost that prize to a white artist, noted Paul Grein, the awards editor at Billboard. “The Grammys would get beat up,” he said. But, he added, “I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

 

“The fact that she has not won a major award since 2010 is insane,” said Brandon Katamara, a student in Cardiff, Wales, who has run @rumiyonce, a Beyoncé fan account with more than 400,000 followers on Instagram, since he was 13.

 

Katamara, now 20, said that even if Beyoncé’s No. 1 hit “Break My Soul” came away with wins in song or record of the year, it wouldn’t lessen the sting. “We don’t care if she just takes one award,” he said. “We just want her to win album of the year.”

 

And should she lose? Katamara predicted a “9.5 out of 10” on the social-media backlash scale. (The nightmare scenario for the BeyHive: a shutout that results in their heroine being passed by the Americana artist Alison Krauss, who has two nominations in genre categories this year and trails Beyoncé by only one win as the most-awarded woman.)

 

Full article

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/arts/music/grammy-awards-beyonce.html

[ALGAYDO 30,607]

What in the delusion is going on here in this day 

[Charmz 3,920]

Umm lol this article is kind of audacious

 

 

[Jewels n Drugs 4,629]

Renaissance definitely deserves

[Anderson123 36,254]

I think she’s gonna win but Renaissance would’ve had an amazing impact if it were a visual album. Such a shame because it SOUNDS like it was made to be that. 

[AnglerfishbraBENUS 5,674]

i think it will go to Bad Bunny 

[Dennis 8,391]

I agree. The Grammy's have been really annoying. How many good albums does she have to release before she wins AOTY? 

[Dennis 8,391]

7 minutes ago, AnglerfishbraBENUS said:

i think it will go to Bad Bunny 

Inbefore he snatches the presenter's phone

[Lanadelduck 1,929]

37 minutes ago, Jewels n Drugs said:

Renaissance definitely deserves

I’m sorry, but it really doesn’t. She didn’t write a word of that record Adele should win.

[Lanadelduck 1,929]

This is not a coronation it’s a competition

[Lanadelduck 1,929]

It is a fantastic album don’t get me wrong

[LateToCult 40,113]

We need Beyoncé’s publicist to spearhead Gar’s Oscars campaign. 
 

“Academy’s Relevance Depends on the ‘Hair, Body, Face’ Chanteuse Winning Best Actress”  

[Roughhouse Dandy 9,200]

I'm not reading all that but I agree with the headline lol 

The album is immaculate and she's been snubbed for long enough

[SevenWonder 3,949]

This article is exactly why so many people really, really root against Beyonce. Even if they like her music. It's not her fault, but this constant deification of all she does just gets annoying. Even worse? The idea that when she doesn't win something it's somehow a snub or attack against humanity. 

Isn't she the woman with the most Grammys ever? Like come on. So she ran up against some other great albums and didn't win AOTY. Sure, she easily could have won it. But she didn't. It's life.

(Btw, neither has Gaga, Nirvana, and a million other A list musicians.)

[Pennywise 35,842]

Lmao I think Renaissance is very good, but just because of this I hope Adele wins, the meltdowns would be so fun