Some viewers have expressed that this year’s Grammy Awards was one of the best ceremonies, because the voting members finally got it right. In the past, the Grammy Awards have been criticized for their lack of inclusion and acknowledgment of innovative artists, which led The Weeknd to boycott the ceremony in 2021. During his speech at the ceremony, the CEO of The Recording Academy Harvey Mason Jr. acknowledged the necessary changes made by the Grammy Awards to reflect the entirety of the music community.
The changes included updating the voting members by making the electorate pool younger, adding more than 3000 women, having nearly 40% people of color, and having 66% new members. At the end of his speech, he introduced The Weeknd on stage to perform, ending his four-year-long Grammys boycott, which surprised everyone. The historic wins by artists such as Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar affirmed the importance of diversity and cultural inclusion, a standard that viewers hope continues moving forward.
Beyoncé made history by being the first Black artist to win Country Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter. After being snubbed completely at the Country Music Awards, it was surprising even for her when the Grammy Awards presenter mentioned her album as the winner. Considering the limited representation of Black artists in the country genre, Cowboy Carter was a cultural reclamation of how Southern Black Americans influenced the creation of the genre.
After being snubbed continuously for the Album of the Year Award at the Grammys, it was also a surprise when Beyoncé was finally recognized for the award this year, making her the fourth Black woman to do so. While a lot of fans were excited about this deserved win, others were in an uproar because Billie Eilish did not win any of her seven nominated categories at this year’s Grammy Awards. As a result, they downplayed the impact of Cowboy Carter by claiming nobody listened to it, and it wasn’t as popular as Eilish’s album Hit Me Hard and Soft.
Eilish’s song, Birds of a Feather, was the most Spotify-streamed song of 2024, so fans were also upset that she didn’t win Record of the Year or Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards. Both awards went to Lamar’s hit song Not like Us, which made history as the first diss track to win five Grammy Awards. Not Like Us made a global impact due to its mainstream reach, which highlighted West Coast hip hop and resulted in a Juneteenth pop-up concert in Inglewood, where he united various LA gang groups on stage.
The impact of Not Like Us was evident when Lamar accepted the award for Record of the Year, and the audience, including Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, were singing and dancing along to his song in the background before his speech. He dedicated this award to various cities in California, including Compton, Watts, Long Beach, and Inglewood, an indication of the cultural influence of his background. While not everyone may understand the cultural significance of Not Like Us, its global impact is undeniable, and the five Grammy Awards affirm the importance of diversity.
The fact that Black artists made history by winning the coveted Grammy awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Album of the Year has stirred uproar amongst some white audiences. They are used to receiving those awards, so how dare The Recording Academy snub favored artists such as Eilish and Swift? The response of angered fans is very telling, considering Eilish was nominated in other categories, such as Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance, and ultimately lost both to Sabrina Carpenter.
Notably, angered fans didn’t complain about those losses but were quick to attack the Black artists who won against her, which is an underlying indication of their racism. The assumption that all art is made for the white gaze explains why some white audiences fail to see the cultural impact of Cowboy Carter and Not Like Us since they were not the target audience. This was evident when an Associated Press (AP) reporter at the Grammy Awards Red Carpet disrespectfully dismissed iconic producer, singer, and songwriter Babyface to speak to Chappell Roan.
The white reporter who dismissed Babyface later apologized on the AP red carpet broadcast, and the news outlet also issued a formal apology on X. A lot of celebrities, such as Dionne Warwick, Khloe Kardashian, and Tamar Braxton, were appalled and responded on social media in defense of Babyface. This interaction is a reminder of the cultural disconnect among white audiences who are not culturally aware of the impact of Black artists such as Babyface, which mirrors how some of them have responded to their favorite artists not winning. It further affirms the value of cultural inclusion not only during the Grammy Awards voting process but also behind-the-scenes at red carpet events.
The lack of regard for cultural diversity is exactly why the Grammy Awards kept emphasizing that 13,000 members voted for each of the categories that were presented. The diversification of the voting pool is exactly why innovation was awarded over popularity at this year’s Grammy Awards. Beyond Kendrick and Beyoncé’s well-deserved wins, newer artists such as Doechii and Chappell Roan, who are known for their eccentric creativity, were also awarded. Despite the current climate that is against diversity, equity, and inclusion, it is refreshing that The Recording Academy was not reflective of cultural exclusion.
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