Jay-Z channels but does not ape Kanye

I’ve been pooh-poohing The Grammys for years. To attest, I need only share the titles of three previous commentaries:

“The Grammys? A Friggin’s Snoozefest” on February 9, 2015
“The Grammys Fading into Irrelevance. Even Drake Says So” on February 11, 2019
“The Grammys: Not only Irrelevant but Rigged!” on January 26, 2020

So I’ll spare you another rant. Instead, I’ll suffice to comment on the rant Jay-Z delivered while accepting the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award.

I don’t want to embarrass this young lady [he said referring to his wife Beyoncé], but she has more Grammys than anyone and never won album of the year. So, even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. Most Grammys, never won album of the year. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category. When I get nervous, I tell the truth. …

Just in life, you got to keep showing up until they give you all those accolades you think you deserve.

(USA Today, February 5, 2024)

Given that, Jay-Z deserves credit for not pulling a Kanye, no? However, he was not being entirely chivalrous. Because you can bet Jay-Z was venting over his own Grammy snubs.

Taylor Swift just keeps winning

Sure enough, Taylor Swift ended the show by accepting her record-setting 4th Grammy for Album of the Year. Beyoncé has been nominated four times for this most coveted award, and has yet to win one.

No doubt, Beyoncé deserved at least one of those four awards Taylor won. And this fact probably fueled the indignation Jay-Z vented last night.

Yet, there’s an inconvenient truth. Jay-Z conveniently ignored the ‘metrics’ that justify Taylor’s win this year.

After all, measured by attendance and revenue alone, Taylor’s record-setting Eras tour makes Beyoncé Renaissance tour look like Taylor’s opening act. Hence the irony in Jay-Z choosing this year to speak out on center stage.

Hypocrisy in Jay-Z and Drake’s criticism

In the 2nd commentary cited above, I called out the hypocrisy in Drake accepting a Grammy only to preach about how irrelevant winning a Grammy is. He reinforced his utter lack of self-awareness by reprising his sermon last night.

But at least he showed enough respect this time to do so on social media, not in person onstage at The Grammys. Even so, his post triggered headlines that rained on the celebration of the artists in attendance, including Jay-Z and Beyoncé.

Here, for example, is how Variety headlined his diss:

“Drake Slams The Grammys: ‘This Show Doesn’t Dictate S***'”

Of course, that, in effect, is what Jay-Z said. But I wish he had directed a little of his condemnation at his own Dr. Dre Global Impact award.

This award is reserved for Black artists. But that makes it seem like a patronizing, affirmative-action consolation prize. After all, it means Dre’s boy, the Slim Shady Eminem, can never receive it. I’m surprised Dre is cool with that.