JAY-Z gave a rare interview shortly prior to the Grammy Awards where he vouched for his wife Beyoncé finally taking home elusive Album of the Year honors with Renaissance.
Hov sat down for a candid chat with TIDAL’s Elliott Wilson and explained why Queen Bey deserved to win AOTY, which she’s now lost four times, including Sunday night (February 5) when Harry Styles’ Harry’s House left victorious in a major upset.
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“Look what it’s done to the culture,” he said of his wife’s latest LP. “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. Somebody just did a joint over Suga Free the other day — you heard this joint? (JAY pulls out his phone and plays Suga’s “I’d Rather Give You My Bitch.”) 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 continued: “It’s inspiring creativity. You know how TheBlack Album had The Grey Album [Danger Mouse’s 2004 mashup project]? And the one with Radiohead? It was called Jaydiohead [Minty Fresh Beats’ 2009 mashup]. When it just inspires creativity, that’s an album. That has to be Album of the Year. It has to be.”
However, while Beyoncé lost Album of the Year, she picked up her 29th through 32nd wins to become the most awarded artist in the history of the Grammy Awards.
Bey took the stage to accept the trophy for Best Dance/Electronic Album for Renaissance.
“Thank you so much, I’m trying not to get too emotional; I’m trying just to receive this night,” Beyoncé said while holding back tears. “I wanna thank God for protecting me. Thank you God. I’d like to thank my uncle Johnny, who’s not here… but he’s here in spirit. I’d like to thank my parents – my mother, my father – for loving me and pushing me.
“I’d like to thank my beautiful husband,” she continued, “my beautiful three children who are watching at home. I’d like to thank the Queer community for your love and for inventing this genre.”
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Hov ended up closing out the Grammy Awards with a star-studded performance of “God Did” alongside DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, John Legend and Fridayy.
Despite missing out on trophies inside the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday, the heavyweight group held court outside the venue where they brought their Grammy-nominated collaboration to life under purple street lights.
