Jay-Z Shook Things Up With His Grammy Speech. Now What?

“When I get nervous,” Jay-Z said, “I tell the truth.”

The Brooklyn rapper didn’t lie about that. For a little more than three minutes straight on Sunday, he held the Recording Academy’s feet to the fire on their own platform.

Established as an award ceremony dedicated to uplifting excellence in music and audio, the Grammys have spent much of their existence missing the mark. This is especially true when it comes to Black artists and genres.

So when Jay-Z got on stage to accept the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, it felt cathartic to watch him say exactly what many of us had been thinking. And to say it on their turf was significant.

He specifically called out the Recording Academy for never awarding his wife, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, with the coveted Album of the Year award.

“She has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the Year,” he said. “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.”

With their Grammy-winning daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, standing beside him on stage, the hip-hop legend continued to read the institution for filth.

“Some of you are going to go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed,” he said. “Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category.”

Hov, who’s been vocal about boycotting the Grammys in the past (despite admitting to watching one year), may have felt robbed in 2018 when his “4:44” album received eight nominations but was completely shut out during the ceremony.

And he’s not the only artist who has spoken out about the show. Kelly Rowland praised Jay for his speech, saying that the Grammys have to “evolve.” Tyler, the Creator, spoke about the unfairness of how Black artists