Beyoncé not winning Album of the Year for Renaissance at the 2023 Grammy Awards is not sitting right with Spike Lee – and he’s not being quiet about it.
The legendary director sat down for a conversation with The Guardian published on Monday (February 13), and didn’t mince words when it came to Bey’s big snub.
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“I’m not the male president of the Bey Hive, but I love and support Beyoncé,” Lee began. “Her album is amazing. I know she’s won multiple Grammys, but four times nominated for Album of the Year and she’s lost every time? No disrespect to those artists like Adele or Harry Styles who won. It’s not their fault, but that’s some straight-up bullshit.”
He continued: “There’s a history of great Black artists who come up for these awards and don’t win. We all know their work is great because art speaks for itself, but then it always comes down to this tricky territory of validation. Do Black artists say, ‘Fuck it,’ or seek white validation and chase awards? It’s straight-up shenanigans, skulduggery, subterfuge. Or as the British say: It’s some poppycock!”
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Despite losing AOTY to Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, Beyoncé still made history at the Grammys this year by becoming the most decorated artist in the ceremony’s history after winning four new awards.
Bey took home wins for Best R&B Song with “Cuff It,” Best Traditional R&B Performance with “Plastic Off The Sofa,” Best Dance/Electronic Recording with “Break My Soul” and Best Dance/Electronic Music Album with Renaissance – the latter of which she became the first Black woman to win.
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Beyoncé went into the evening with nine nominations, pushing her career total to 88 – which makes her the most nominated artist in Grammys history. She’s tied with her husband JAY-Z.
Following the show, Hov sat down for a rare interview with TIDAL’s Elliott Wilson and echoed similar sentiments about his wife’s AOTY loss as Spike Lee.
“Look what [Renaissance has] done to the culture,” Jay said. “Look how the energy of the world moved. 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. Every remix is better than the other one.
“From anybody, we’re just finding these joints out in the street,” he continued. “Somebody just did a joint over Suga Free the other day — you heard this joint? It’s a West Coast classic. The DJ put Bey’s vocals over this at a party and it went crazy.”
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He added: “It’s inspiring creativity. You know how The Black Album had [Danger Mouse’s 2004 mashup project] The Grey Album? And the one with Radiohead? It was called Jaydiohead. When it just inspires creativity, that’s an album. That has to be Album of the Year. It has to be.”
