Beyonce is one of the most revered artists in Grammy history, and her album releases have had a cultural impact, as well as reshaped music industry norms.
But unlike Beyonce, there have rarely been such accomplished artists who have been snubbed so evidently by the Recording Academy.
Beyonce has never won a Grammy for the categories namely Best Album or Record.
Once again on Sunday, she will head to the Grammys gala, after her album Cowboy Carter, dropped last spring. It had received critical acclaim.
It earned her a fifth Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.
In the past years, she has lost to Taylor Swift, Beck, Adele and, most recently, Harry Styles.
As for Record of the Year, this is her ninth shot at the golden gramophone.
Noticeably, nearly all of Beyonce’s losses have been to white pop and rock artists.
“If she wins the Album of the Year category for Cowboy Carter, it would be for me, similar to when Barack Obama won the presidency,” said Birgitta Johnson, a professor of African American studies and music history at the University of South Carolina.
Johnson added, “Upon Obama’s victory, as a Black person in America, I was shocked.”
Beyonce has had a reputation for showcasing Black music and traditions while elevating fellow artists.
Fault Lines
Birgitta Johnson highlights, that Grammy voters tend to dismiss collaborative projects.
Musicologist Lauron Kehrer agreed to Johnson’s statements, citing Beyonce’s 2015 loss to Beck for Album of the Year.
The chatter afterwards was that while Beyonce worked with a team, Beck put the album together himself.
“Voter values have been more aligned with white-dominated genres like rock and alternative,” said Kehrer.
He added, “When we look at pop and R&B and other genres, they take a more collaborative approach — but that approach to collaboration has not really been valued by Grammy voters.”
The Grammys have increased the number of contenders in the top categories.
Previously, it used to be five, and was then bumped to 10, and is currently eight, in a bid to promote diversity.
The change has actually meant votes are split to a degree that people of colour and less conventional artists still rarely win.
“All those things are coming into play when it comes to Beyonce, this iconic global star that keeps missing this particular brass ring,” Johnson said.
No ‘one-trick pony’
Beyonce’s work is difficult to define — beyond the top categories. Her 11 Grammy nominations this year range from American, country, pop, and rap.
She has previously scooped awards for dance and electronic music.
“She refuses to be a one-trick pony,” musicologist Lauron Kehrer said.
He added, “It does feel like Cowboy Carter especially was a project to show, among other things, that she is a versatile artist who cannot be pigeon-holed, and to kind of force institutions in the industry to pay attention to that.”
Johnson further mentions that in the end, the Grammys need Beyonce a whole lot more than she needs the Grammys.
Birgitta Johson told AFP, “Her touch is vital to the gala so they can seem not only relevant but as inclusive as they claim they have been trying to be.”
‘Litmus test’
Johnson says that as for winning prizes if that were Beyonce’s primary concern, she would write music tailored for that.
The professor added, “Instead, she’s trying to do more work around narratives and identity. She is one of those rare artists who are free creatively, but also has the wealth to propel her vision.”
That vision trickles down to the artists who routinely win the big prizes.
Johnson made the above statement by citing the example of Grammy darling Billie Eilish, of how younger generations take inspiration from Beyonce to work across genres.
“It is hard to get around the fact that it is such a significant recognition,” Kehrer said, calling the Grammys a “litmus test”, for where we are on when it comes to race and genre in the music industry.
