Jay-Z used his time onstage at the 2024 Grammy Awards ceremony to chastise the Recording Academy for never giving his wife, Beyoncé, the coveted Album of the Year Award.
The 54-year-old hip hop artist made the remarks while accepting the 2nd annual Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, per a report from People.
“We want y’all to get it right. At least getting close to right. And obviously it’s subjective. Y’all don’t gotta clap at everything. Obviously it’s subjective because, you know, it’s music and it’s opinion-based,” Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, stated.
“But, you know, some things — I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the Year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys, never won Album of the Year. That doesn’t work,” he continued.
Jay-Z's #Grammys speech pic.twitter.com/AWl6snvaPO
— JAY-Z Daily (@JAY_Z_Daily) February 5, 2024
Though Carter did not clarify which “young lady” he was referring to, fans understood him to be complaining about Beyoncé. The publication noted that Beyoncé was nominated for Album of the Year four times and never won. The singer currently holds the record for the most Grammy wins in history with 32.
The “Break My Soul” singer lost out in Album of the Year in 2010 to Taylor Swift, again in 2015 to Beck, in 2017 to Adele, and in 2023 she lost to Harry Styles. This year, Swift won Album of the Year for “Midnights” while Beyonce was not nominated for any Grammys.
“You know, some of you gonna go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in a category. No, when I get nervous I tell the truth,” Jay-Z added.
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Jay-Z concluded his speech while standing beside his daughter, Blue Ivy. He said, “We gotta keep showing up. And forget the Grammys for a second, just in life. As my daughter sits and stares at me, nervous as I am. Just in life, you gotta keep showing up, forget the Grammys, you gotta keep showing up. Until they give you all those accolades you think you deserve, until they call you a chairman, until they call you a genius, until they call you the greatest of all time. You feel me?”
Viewers were quick to compare Jay-Z’s speech to the infamous incident at the 2009 MTV VMAs when Kanye West interrupted then-19-year-old Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video and declared that Beyonce should have won instead.
“Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish,” West said at the time. “But Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!”