USA TODAY International Edition
Beyoncé’s bittersweet ‘ Lemonade’ loss
Win or lose, contest reveals Grammys’ shortcomings
“What the ( expletive) does ( Beyoncé) have to do to win album of the year?”
That’s a good question, one posed by Adele backstage at the Grammys on Sunday night, minutes after 25 beat Beyoncé’s Lemonade for album of the year.
The answer? Short of going more pop, or magically becoming a white artist, it’s unclear. Beyoncé’s loss reflects the Grammys’ problems, confirming that “music’s biggest night” is just as out of touch and racially fraught as critics claim.
WHY SHE LOST THE GRAMMYS LOVE ADELE — AND HER SALES NUMBERS
While Beyoncé’s loss dismayed many fans, it wasn’t a surprise to some Grammy swatchers. Adele is a perennial favorite at the awards, sweeping the 2012 Grammys with six trophies for 21. Thanks to its earlier release date, her album 25 dwarfed Lemonade in sales. While the two albums posted similar numbers in 2016 ( 2.4 million and 2.2 million total units, respectively), Adele already had also sold 8.01 million units in 2015 before Lemonade arrived in April 2016.
BLACK ARTISTS HAVE STRUGGLED TO WIN ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Grammys’ album of the year preferences extend beyond just stats. Last year, Frank Ocean told The New York Times that he was skipping the Grammys because of the voters’ weak track record in recognizing black art- ists, particularly when it comes to album of the year. “1989 getting album of the year over To Pimp a Butterfly. Hands down one of the most ‘ faulty’ TV moments I’ve seen,” Ocean wrote in a Tumblr post, pointing out how Taylor Swift’s album beat out the Kendrick Lamar favorite last year.
THE GRAMMYS HAVE AN ‘ URBAN CONTEMPORARY’ PROBLEM
In one of the modern Grammys’ most worrisome trends, critically favored rap and R& B artists are rewarded in their respective genre categories, while rarely taking home the night’s biggest award. It’s a struggle that Beyoncé, Frank Ocean and Lamar all know well. Bey’s Lemonade took home urban contemporary album Sunday, the category that Ocean’s Channel Orange won in 2013, while Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly was awarded best rap album in 2016.
None of the three artists has won album of the year. Bey fans hoped that Lemonade could overcome the Grammys’ questionable history of racial inequity.
WHY BEYONCÉ SHOULD HAVE WON THE ALBUM IS CULTURALLY SIGNIFICANT
Adele’s win wasn’t exactly as an upset. But as Adele said backstage, Beyoncé winning album of the year for Lemonade would’ve recognized not just her music, but the vital cultural role the singer occupied in 2016, a pop megastar whose work still spoke powerfully to members of her race and gender. “I felt like it was her time to win,” Adele said.
Beyoncé will get more chances at the top prizes, even if she has to record an album of jazz standards or pop covers to finally claim album of the year. And yet, Lemonade will never have another chance to win, and another contemporary masterpiece from a black artist is overlooked.