Fifth time’s the charm for Beyoncé, who received her first-ever Album of the Year title on Sunday at the 67th annual Grammy Awards, culminating a 15-year journey to the coveted award and the first category win for a Black woman since “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” in 1999. “I just feel very full and very honored,” Beyoncé said during her acceptance speech. “It’s been many, many years.” Despite first being nominated for “I Am…Sasha Fierce” in 2010, as well as being the most awarded artist in Grammys history, Beyoncé finally accepted the highest honor of the night for her 2024 country record, “Cowboy Carter.” She dedicated the win – one of three – to Linda Martell, the first Black woman to break through in country music and a featured collaborator on the album.
“I hope we just keep pushing forward, opening doors,” she said. Hosted annually by The Recording Academy, the 67th Grammy Awards was a celebratory night for groundbreaking Black artistry across the board. While Doechii and Tems snagged their first solo wins, jazz vocalist Samara Joy and R&B prodigy SZA, respectively, became five-time Grammy winners. Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar swept with summer rap hit “Not Like Us,” which earned a total of five Grammys, including Record of the Year — the first-ever for a diss track.
“The Recording Academy is in a very tight spot because we, as a people, are starting to push the message of the fact that…Black people are the foundation of all music, really,” said commercial music major Dilan “Da’Genie” Hoskins.
As a former recipient of one of the Academy’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs (Quinn Coleman Memorial Scholarship), Hoskins, a Tennessee State University junior notes there is growth in the culture of the production company. But he admits the bigger issue lies with the representation and “neglect of art” in the voting process.
“For us to be that far removed from a Black woman winning Album of the Year, when people like Beyoncé have existed, people like Rihanna…and Nicki [Minaj]. And now people like SZA and…Victoria Monet,” Hoskins told The Informer. “There’s no justification as to why there [had] not been a Black woman to win Album of the Year since Lauryn.”The Miseducation of Black Women at the GrammysThe controversial history over the Grammys’ not awarding Black women in the prestigious category has been a recurring hot topic that most recently resurged last year, when SZA’s “SOS” lost to four-time category winner Taylor Swift’s album “Midnights.” The shocking reveal left fans, critics and members of the music industry voicing their frustrations and disappointment, especially given the widespread commercial success of SZA’s sophomore album, which is still sporting the Billboard 200 chart as of January 2025. “To me…Album of the Year is the best and biggest album of that year, and best can be subjective, but biggest cannot be,” said Hoskins. Further, it propelled concerns about adequate Black female representation in awardship.
Since the Grammys launched in 1959, only 38 albums by 25 Black women have been nominated for Album of the Year, with past nominees including: “The Emancipation of Mimi” in 2006 (Mariah Carey); “Loud” in 2011 (Rihanna); and Beyoncé’s other previous losses for: “Beyonce” in 2013; “Lemonade” in 2016; and “Renaissance” in 2023. After Natalie Cole (1992), Whitney Houston (1994), and Hill’s 1999 win, a Black woman wouldn’t claim the award for another 25 years, making Beyoncé only the fourth honoree in the club of her predecessors.Like her younger sibling, Zsana Hoskins, an ambassador of the Recording Academy’s student chapter, Grammy U, agrees a lack of adequate representation is at the root of the historic disparity, despite the company’s strides towards increasing diversity. “The numbers have increased–they’ve shown us data from the Black Music Collective, and Black voting membership has increased. However, I think it’s still a systemic issue,” Hoskins said.Academy Youth Say ‘The Power is in Our Hands’ to Shape Black Representation Grammy U representatives Hoskins and Amir Duke applaud diversity-centered programs such as the Black Music Collective and QLC as pathways for aspiring musicians and industry leaders to become ingrained in the music business both commercially and operationally.
Duke, a full service marketing agency CEO, leveraged his role as an Atlanta chapter ambassador in 2023 to increase knowledge, access and exposure to the music business for students at historically Black institutions, including his alma mater Morehouse College. “Once you’re in it, and once you become a member, you can easily see that the only way that a Black woman or Black artists will win Album of the Year…is just more representation in the room,” he told The Informer in April. The other half of the battle, Duke said, is educating future culture shifters on the different ways to support Black art beyond accolades and critical acclaim. He noted the importance of understanding the limitations that shape residual growth in the industry, such as royalties, publishing companies, sync opportunities and commercial exposure for Black artists. The youngest Hoskins boosted this notion, encouraging Black creators to prioritize impact and “build[ing] our own ecosystem” by reinvesting in their own success. “The power is in our hands as a community to not be denied, but we are also not responsible for their ignorance,” he told The Informer. “How you make people feel, that’s going to be remembered.”
As an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony) winner-hopeful, the older Hoskins sibling envisions the future of the Grammys as being more reflective of the last two years.“I hope it’ll be[come] a Black women’s award night times 10,” she said. “That it can truly just be a little less biased, a little less systemic by the time I reach the stage.”Grammy Affiliates Speak on Diversity in the Academy: ‘The Power is in our Hands’
Source: Washington Informer
