JAY-Z called out the Recording Academy while accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.
Hov appeared on stage at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunday (February 4) and used his speech to take aim at the organization for continually snubbing his wife Beyoncé in the Album of the Year category.
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“We want y’all to get it right,” he said, standing alongside his 12-year-old daughter Blue Ivy. “We love y’all, we love y’all, we just want y’all to get it right. At least get it close to right.
“Obviously it’s subjective because, you know, it’s music and it’s opinion-based, but some things… I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the Year!”
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He continued: “So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys, never won Album of the Year. That doesn’t work.
“Some of you are gonna go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category. Nah, nah, nah. When I get nervous I tell the truth!”
Beyoncé holds the record for the most Grammy wins with 32. However, she has never won the coveted Album of the Year award despite being nominated four times (I Am… Sasha Fierce in 2010, Beyoncé in 2015, Lemonade in 2017 and Renaissance in 2023).
JAY-Z previously took shots at the Grammys last year for overlooking his own album 4:44 in 2018.
“In that moment, I was like, ‘They missed the opportunity,’ because people emulate success,” he told TIDAL. “In that moment, that album, 4:44, was a moment for us to say, ‘Hip Hop is viewed as a young man’s sport. Now here is this album that could take us into the next sphere.’
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“I feel like they missed the moment. I didn’t feel bad for myself, because I know it’s the Grammys: I probably won some joints I shouldn’t have won and I probably lost some joints I should’ve won.”
He added: “That’s the way it goes, so I actually had a party. I had a great time, staying out until 6 in the morning.”
JAY-Z was nominated for eight Grammys in 2018 but went home empty handed. He later vented his frustration with the Recording Academy on his 2018 “Apeshit” collaboration with Beyoncé, rapping: “Tell the Grammys fuck that 0 for 8 shit.”
After receiving the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, which was introduced last year, the Roc Nation mogul was seen dapping up the legendary producer and posing for a photo with him in the audience.
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Hov also poured D’USSÉ cognac into his award and drank from it, recreating his viral moment from the 2013 Grammys.
JAY-Z wasn’t the only rapper who took home silverware this year as Killer Mike was a triple winner in the rap categories (Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance) while Lil Durk and J. Cole nabbed Best Melodic Rap Performance (“All My Life”).
