One of the leading dissenting voices in cinema, Spike Lee. The filmmaker has made films that have evoked the collective conscience of Hollywood. He made films that have been trailblazers in tearing the masquerade behind all-is-well in terms of race in America. His films like ‘Da 5 Bloods’, ‘Do The Right Thing’, ‘BlacKkKlansman’, and others have portrayed the never changed landscape of racial discrimination in the USA.
Recently, the 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony concluded at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Two artists who were leading the race for most nominations were Adele and Beyoncé. Beyoncé was nominated for nine categories which included ‘Song of the Year’, ‘Record of the Year’, and ‘Album of the Year’ for ‘Renaissance’. She swept four awards, but yet again did not win the ‘Album of the Year’. This has irked Spike Lee.
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Spike Lee Calls Beyoncé’s Loss “Straight Up Bulls**t”
When Beyoncé releases an album, it is a celebration. This time the celebration was all encapsulating and intersectional. She released her seventh studio album ‘Renaissance’ in July 2022. Queen Bey acknowledged, celebrated, and put Black music and the LGBTQIA+ community at the forefront.
It was more for them than of her. So, when she released the album, all 16 tracks were on the Billboard 100 list. During the Grammy Awards, she won four trophies majorly in R&B and Dance/Electronic categories.
Like every time, BeyHive was disappointed in the Recording Academy for snubbing Beyoncé in the ‘Album of the Year’ category. Harry Styles won the award for his 2022 album ‘Harry’s House’. He was heavily criticized for his acceptance speech due to ignorance of his ‘white privilege’. Now, the veteran filmmaker Spike Lee has also criticized the Grammys.
During an interview with The Guardian, he said, “I’m not the male president of the Bey Hive, but I love and support Beyoncé. 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 that’s some straight-up bulls***t”.
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The Director Called The Snub “PoppyCock”
The Recording Academy has time and again refused to give the laurels to the craftsmanship that Black artists display through their music. It is not limited to the pop genre, but the hip-hop genre was also marred with it.
In 2014, Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Good Kid m.A.A.d City’ was contending in the Rap Album category with Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ ‘The Heist’. Lamar lost the ‘Best Rap Album’ trophy to them. Likewise in 2017, Beyoncé’s seminal album ‘Lemonade’ lost the ‘Album of the Year award to Adele.
On this extreme bias, Lee commented, “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”.
He continued, “Do black artists say: ‘F*** it’ – or seek white validation and chase awards? I just want to give a shoutout to my sister Beyoncé. We know what the deal is. It’s straight-up shenanigans, skulduggery, subterfuge. Or as the British say: it’s some poppycock!”
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