Beyoncé made Grammy Award history last week becoming the most decorated musician in the award show's history, but some people on NPR believe her talent is being "ignored" by society after losing major categories including Album of the Year to "very White" artists.
During a segment on National Public Radio's "Pop Culture Happy Hour," last Monday, host Stephen Thompson pointed to the star's history of losing the Album of the Year award, noting how her self-titled album Beyoncé lost to Beck's "Morning Phase" in 2015 followed by her 2017 defeat for her album "Lemonade" to Adele's 25.
Thompson said he found it puzzling that her latest album, "Renaissance," which he described as a "monumental piece of craftsmanship honoring many decades of Black dance music," lost to Harry Style's "Harry's House" at the 65th Grammy Awards after both albums were nominated for Album of the Year.
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"To have that record lose out to Harry Styles -- and, look, I like Harry Styles," he said. "None of this is to crap on Harry Styles. But that history of her kind of losing to very safe, very mainstream, very White artists in these main categories really stands out. It just can't be overlooked," he said.
NPR's culture desk correspondent Anastasia Tsioulcas agreed, telling Thompson she found it "infuriating" that Beyoncé was shut out of the night's top three categories, despite taking home four Grammys in other categories.
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"I mean, and obviously, the casting aside of important Black music is fundamental," Tsioulcas said.
"I think we cannot not talk about that, and… also, very often a casting aside of female artists, especially, it's OK for them to be good singers and performers, generally - [they are] often not recognized as songwriters, as producers. The number of female engineers in this business is still, I think, still, as of this year, still below four percent. Like, there are all kinds of ways in which great female talent, including Beyoncé, is being ignored," she continued. "It's a terrible situation, and it remains so no matter how many times the Grammy institution says no, no, no, we're on it."
Beyoncé dominated the Grammy Awards this year with nine nominations in different categories. She took home four Grammys last Sunday, totaling 32 awards over the span of her career. She is now considered the most decorated musician in the award show's history.
