Discourse surrounding the Grammy award winner for “Album of the Year” has surfaced across all social media platforms. After Beyonce won the Grammy, fans were left questioning the legitimacy of her win.
Album of the Year was a competitive genre this year, with Beyonce going up against Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and others. People described 2024’s summer as “the summer of pop,” with Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso,” Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” and Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck Babe!” climbing the charts and fighting for top placement. Due to the soaring popularity of all the songs, one would think that one of those artists would win the award. Apparently, their peers didn’t see it that way.
Much to my surprise, “Cowboy Carter” was dubbed “Album of the Year,” leaving Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift to walk home empty handed. “While I love Beyonce and I’m proud of her accomplishments, the album overall wasn’t that good. There were a few catchy songs, but nothing really took my breath away. However, Billie Eilish did, in fact, drop an album that so many people around the world (including myself) listened to repeatedly the second it came out,” sophomore Arden Cechowicz said.
I am severely disappointed with Taylor Swift’s loss. Swift and her producers poured themselves into their work on her latest album, and it is readily apparent. Releasing a double album with thirty-one tracks while being out of the country on her tour- the highest grossing tour of all time- while still releasing “Taylor’s Versions” of her previous albums shows her hard work and her dedication to her craft.
On the first day of “The Tortured Poets Department” release, there were over one billion streams alone. Only twenty-three songs from “Cowboy Carter” charted on the Billboard 100, while all thirty-one from “The Tortured Poets Department” made it on the day of its release.
For similar reasons, many are also extremely annoyed by Billie Eilish’s loss as well. Eilish has expressed nothing but immense pride for her album “Hit Me Hard and Soft.” Since the release, it is obvious how overly grateful she is for the awards that her album has already received, nonetheless, she was shown applauding Beyonce during her acceptance speech with tears in her eyes.
Eilish and her brother, Phinneas O’Connell, wrote the album together, without the assistance of outside sources, and that alone is reward worthy. It is hard to come across modern music that is completely made by only the artist and their producer. A perfect example is Beyonce’s album, which had over seventy ghostwriters. At that point, can she even claim full ownership?
Charting aside, according to Spotify, Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” was the most streamed song of 2024, while Beyonce’s most popular song from “Cowboy Carter,” “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM,” didn’t even make the top 30.
“Album of the Year” should be awarded to an album with high cultural significance and impact. Because of Beyonce’s unexpected win, many fans of the Grammys have started to speculate whether or not the voting process is legitimate. Awards aside, it is nice to see so many successful female artists making history within the music industry. The 64th annual Grammy’s ceremony took place on Sunday, February 2. Every year, the nominees and winners are decided and voted on by music creators, specifically artists, producers, songwriters, and engineers.
