Jay-Z Called the Grammys Album of the Year Race ‘a Marketing Thing’ Ahead of Beyoncé’s Loss
Jay-Z shared his unfiltered thoughts about the Grammys in a new interview conducted ahead of the ceremony and published on Monday (Feb. 6), after Beyoncé lost out on album of the year for the fourth time as reported on Billboard.
“I remove myself from the process and hope they just get it right. It got to the point where I was like, it’s just a marketing thing,” he told TIDAL about the race for album of the year days before the winner was announced. “You go, you got an album out and it could help the sales go up. It got to that point, but deep down … Again, we grew up idolizing this. It was like one of the pillars for us.”
However, despite his perspective on the award, Hov still maintained that his wife deserved the top prize for her acclaimed 2022 album, Renaissance. “Look what it’s done to the culture. Look how the energy of the world moved,” the rapper argued. “They play her whole album in the club. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that. The whole entire joint — like, everything?! Every remix is amazing. Everyone’s inspired. It has inspired the world.”
Although album of the year ultimately went to Harry Styles for Harry’s House, Queen Bey walked away from the ceremony with four more Grammy awards — including best R&B song for “Cuff It” and best dance/electronic album. The latest awards from The Recording Academy brought her total career Grammy wins to 32, officially making her the most-awarded artist in Grammy history.
Meanwhile, Jay-Z, who’s won a total of 24 Grammys himself over the years, closed out the telecast by performing “God Did” with collaborators DJ Khaled, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, John Legend and Fridayy.
