The 'Dirt Off Your Shoulder' rapper does not think twice to get things off his chest during his acceptance speech as he is honored with the 2nd annual Dr. Dre Global Impact Award.
- Feb 5, 2024
AceShowbiz - Jay-Z did not think twice in voicing his apparent disappointment with the Grammy Awards. While giving a speech at the 66th annual event, the "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" rapper called out the award show over Beyonce Knowles' repeated Album of the Year snubs.
On Sunday night, February 4, the 54-year-old hip-hop artist made an appearance at the event, which took place at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. He attended the ceremony with his singer wife and their 12-year-old first child, Blue Ivy.
During the award show, Jay-Z stepped on a podium and took his daughter with him to receive an accolade as he was just honored with the 2nd annual Dr. Dre Global Impact Award. In his acceptance speech, he said, "Thank you very much. I used to say it was a sippy cup for Blue, but Blue's grown up now she doesn't take sippy cups."
The "Show Me What You Got" spitter, who is also famous as Hov, went on to say, "And she has her own Grammys." He was making a reference to Blue winning Best Music Video for her role in Queen Bey's "Brown Skin Girl" visuals.
In the same speech, Hov also questioned how the award show processed its voted categories. He stated, "We want y'all to get it right. At least getting close to right. And obviously it's subjective. Y'all don't gotta clap at everything. Obviously it's subjective because, you know, it's music and it's opinion-based."
Hov explained, "But, you know, 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," referring to his wife, Beyonce, who has been nominated for album of the year four times and never won despite her 32 wins in other categories. "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," the rapper continued. He further elaborated, "You know, some of you gonna go home tonight and feel like you've been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don't belong in a category. No, when I get nervous I tell the truth."
"Outside of that, you know, we got to keep showing up and forget the Grammys for a second," Jay-Z added. "Just in life. As my daughter just sits and stares at me, nervous as I am. Just in life, you got to keep showing up. Just keep showing up. Forget the Grammys you got to keep showing up until they give you all those accolades you feel you deserve. Until they call you Chairman, until they call you a genius until they call you the greatest of all time. You feel me?"
Aside from Jay-Z, actor Spike Lee blasted the Grammy Awards over Beyonce's four-time Album of the Year snubs. Speaking to The Guardian, he said, "I'm not the male president of the Beyhive, but I love and support Beyonce. 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 thats some straight-up bulls**t."
Spike elaborated, "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, 'F**k it,' or seek white validation and chase awards? I just want to give a shoutout to my sister Beyonce. We know what the deal is. Its straight-up shenanigans, skulduggery, subterfuge. Or as the British say, 'It's some poppyc**k!' "
