The 2024 Grammy Awards shaped up to be a bittersweet night with some artists setting new records, earning their first win, and some being snubbed according to their fans.
Victoria Monét earned her first Grammy with the Best New Artist award and added two more awards for Best R&B Album and Best Engineered Album, non classical, later that night.
Tyla took home the first ever Best African Music Performance award for her inescapable hit Water, in a category with nominees like Burna Boy.
In the rap category, Killer Mike won big taking home three Grammys for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, and Best Rap Performance. Unfortunately, that’s where controversy at the awards show began.
Shortly after winning, Killer Mike was escorted out of Crypto Arena, where the awards show was hosted, in handcuffs by the LAPD and booked for a misdemeanor battery charge. He was later released on zero bail according to LAPD.
When JAY-Z accepted the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, he shared a few statements that drew silence from the crowd.
“You know, some of you gonna go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed,” he started. “Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don’t belong in a category.”
He said this after noting his wife Beyoncé’s lack of an Album of the Year award despite her record number of Grammy wins.
For many, his words would later be proven when Taylor Swift won the Album of the Year award for her album Midnights, surpassing the likes of Stevie Wonder to set the record for most wins in the category. Swift’s fourth win in the category set audience’s eyes on another milestone – 25 years since a Black woman won the award despite 16 nominations over the years, including two in 2024.
On Twitter, music fans felt like SZA, who took home three wins that night, deserved the award instead of Swift.
The Recording Academy also did not present any rap awards on television even though some of the biggest names in music were nominated like Drake, Travis Scott, and Kendrick Lamar.
Regardless, rap and R&B had a good night with Killer Mike, SZA and Victoria Monet’s three wins each tying them for second place in most trophies earned that night. Phoebe Bridgers took home the most out of any artist with four.
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