Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar led one of the best Grammys in years. Has the awards show transformed?

By MARIA SHERMAN, AP Music Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Grammy Awards person agelong been criticized implicit a deficiency of diversity, with a past of artists of color, women, and rap and R&B musicians being snubbed for apical prizes. Sunday’s variation suggests thing whitethorn person shifted.

Beyoncé, the astir awarded and nominated creator successful Grammys history, finally won medium of the year for her country-and-then-some album, “Cowboy Carter,” furthering her dedication to recentering Black creation successful fashionable culture. Kendrick Lamar took location 2 of the apical 4 prizes of the night, celebrating hip-hop connected a amusement that has historically neglected the genre. The Grammys placed young popular performers successful the spotlight astatine the infinitesimal of their ascent, gathering the contemporary euphony moment.

The Recording Academy has made concerted efforts to diversify successful caller years. Could it beryllium those strides person already paid disconnected successful a people correction? Or were the 2025 Grammys simply a one-off?

A feud squashed

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason jr. appeared onstage to code “some existent criticism” facing the enactment down the Grammys.

“Artists were beauteous vocal with their complaints,” helium said, reaching backmost to 2020: “The Weeknd called retired the academy for deficiency of transparency successful our awards. He went truthful acold arsenic to denote helium was boycotting the Grammys.”

Five years tin marque a satellite of difference. At the extremity of his speech, Mason introduced The Weeknd arsenic a astonishment performer, making his archetypal quality astatine the Grammys since 2017.

His instrumentality suggested support of a caller voting people — respective presenters took attraction to enactment that the awards were decided by much than 13,000 voting members.

Peter A. Berry, a euphony writer with enactment successful XXL and Complex, believes that speechmaking mightiness beryllium excessively pat, though. “He performed to beforehand his caller album,” helium said, referencing The Weeknd’s “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” That timing aligned with the Grammys’ request to item its reform.

“I can’t region my cynical euphony manufacture lens,” helium says. “Time heals each wounds erstwhile you request promo.”

A much divers voting body

Of the Recording Academy’s existent voting membership, 66% are men, 49% are achromatic and 66% are implicit the property of 40. But the academy announced past twelvemonth that 3,000 pistillate voting members had been added since 2019. Two-thirds of the full voting body joined successful the past 5 years. In that aforesaid time, the academy has accrued the fig of members who place arsenic radical of colour by 63%, with 100% maturation successful Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, 90% maturation successful Black voters and 43% maturation successful Latino voters.

At the 2024 Grammys, women dominated the large categories and arsenic a result, each televised competitory Grammy went to astatine slightest 1 woman. It appeared to bespeak modern involvement successful pistillate popular performers — Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Victoria Monét and Karol G, among them. In 2025, that inclination continued. Women received each azygous televised grant connected Sunday nighttime with the objection of Lamar’s and 1 shared betwixt Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars.

“They got it close this year,” Berry says. “Maybe it is that the voting committee changed.”

Nominees and winners bespeak modern interest

The nominations announced successful November acknowledged the artists who led the speech successful 2024. Beyoncé was celebrated with 11 nominations, what Kinitra D. Brooks — an world and writer of “The Lemonade Reader” — says was the effect of voters yet recognizing “this is intelligibly idiosyncratic who deserves the respect of her peers.”

Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, experiencing breakout years, received six nods each. The ubiquitous, discourse-dominating “Not Like Us” from Lamar and Charli xcx’s “BRAT” besides received recognition.

And that translated to awards. There were a fig of first-time grant winners, galore women and radical of colour similar Doechii, Carin León and Sierra Ferrell. In the comparatively caller songwriter of the year, non-classical category, Amy Allen became the archetypal pistillate to instrumentality location the trophy.

A determination successful the close absorption for hip-hop

“Not Like Us” was an aboriginal victor astatine the Grammys’ Premiere Ceremony, receiving trophies for euphony video, rap opus and rap performance. It marked his seventh clip winning successful that past category. But it was his beingness during the main broadcast that truly made a splash. One of the biggest planetary hits of 2024, his Drake diss way won opus and grounds of the twelvemonth — lone the second hip-hop single to ever triumph grounds of the year. By the extremity of the night, “Not Like Us” had won each 5 awards for which it was nominated.

Lamar’s recognitions arrived the twelvemonth aft Jay-Z criticized the Grammys for ignoring the rap legends earlier him — those who brought hip-hop to the preeminent euphony grant show, lone to person rap categories not marque the authoritative broadcast.

“We privation you each to get it right,” Jay-Z said past year. “At slightest get it adjacent to right.”

Berry describes Lamar’s wins arsenic “a layup,” a solemnisation of 1 of the large rap records of caller history.

And though Lamar’s wins meant much hip-hop connected the broadcast, Berry says the Grammys’ hip-hop picks thin to beryllium predictable. He says there’s a “cookie cutter” look for the benignant of rappers the Recording Academy recognizes.

“The much esoteric and abstract rap,” arsenic good arsenic “the mid-level thoroughfare rap,” goes mostly ignored, helium says.

Course-correcting the biggest unsighted spot

Beyoncé’s medium of the twelvemonth triumph was wide thought agelong overdue. The superstar had 4 of her albums nominated successful the class earlier winning connected her fifth.

She seemingly alluded to it successful her acceptance speech: “It’s been many, galore years,” she said.

“I Am… Sasha Fierce” mislaid to Taylor Swift for “Fearless” successful 2010. In 2015, her self-titled medium “Beyoncé” mislaid to Beck’s “Morning Phase” and Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” bushed “Renaissance” successful 2023. Perhaps astir infamously, though, was the nonaccomplishment of “Lemonade” to Adele’s “25.”

“I can’t perchance judge this award. And I’m precise humbled, and I’m precise grateful and gracious, but my creator of my beingness is Beyoncé,” Adele said successful her 2017 acceptance speech, holding backmost tears.

In winning medium of the twelvemonth Sunday, Beyoncé became the archetypal Black pistillate to triumph the apical prize successful the 21st century. The past was Lauryn Hill with “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” 26 years ago. Before her were Natalie Cole and Whitney Houston, and the database ends there.

Brooks believes “Beyoncé reflects that Black women tin beryllium fantabulous and inactive ignored successful precise peculiar ways — due to the fact that this is simply a apical grant successful her field.”

Emily Lordi, a Vanderbilt University prof whose absorption is African American lit and Black fashionable music, describes “Cowboy Carter” arsenic “an medium with a superior A — 1 that explicitly aims to reconstruct the Black roots and routes of country, a genre agelong coded arsenic white. It is the benignant of historical involution the academy could not neglect to admit — it was undeniable.”

Berry points to the information that the record’s state power whitethorn person aligned with the academy’s traditionalist voters — but besides appealed to those inspired by its interruption with convention.

“It is immoderate cosmic justness being done,” says Berry. “It mightiness not beryllium the champion Bey album, but it was the champion of the category.”

Even Grammys’ big Trevor Noah couldn’t assistance but admit the milestone: “We yet saw it happen, everyone,” helium said. That, we did.

Originally Published: February 4, 2025 astatine 2:55 PM EST