Spike Lee has weighed in on the Grammy Awards’ controversial determination to award Harry Types with Album of the Yr over Beyoncé in a brand new interview.
The outspoken veteran director broached the subject throughout a characteristic interview with The Guardian. Whereas he declined to touch upon a latest controversy surrounding the nomination of the movie To Leslie at this yr’s Oscars, author Nadia Khomami famous that Lee was “extra forthcoming” when it got here to discussing the Grammys.
Lee pre-empted his feedback by admitting that he was “not the male president of the Bey Hive” – the long-standing nickname of Beyoncé’s fanbase. He did, nevertheless, “love and assist” the singer.
“Her album [‘Renaissance’] is superb,” he mentioned. “I do know she’s received a number of Grammys, however 4 instances nominated for album of the yr and she or he’s misplaced each time? No disrespect to these artists like Adele or Harry Types who received – it’s not their fault – however that’s some straight-up bullshit.”
Lee went on to notice the “historical past of nice black artists” who’re nominated for prestigious awards and don’t win – certainly, Lee himself was nominated for each Finest Image and Finest Director on the Oscars and the Golden Globes for the primary time in his profession for the 2019 movie BlacKkKlansman, however didn’t win at both.
“Everyone knows their work is nice, as a result of artwork speaks for itself,” he mentioned. “However then it at all times comes all the way down to this difficult territory of validation. Do black artists say ‘Fuck it’, or search white validation and chase awards?”
Though Beyoncé didn’t win Album of the Yr, she did win a number of awards all through the evening – together with Finest Dance/Digital Recording (for ‘Break My Soul’), Finest Dance/Digital Music Album (for ‘Renaissance’), Finest Conventional R&B Efficiency (for ‘Plastic Off The Couch’) and Finest R&B Track (for ‘Cuff It’).
With this, Beyoncé’s whole Grammy wins throughout her profession got here to 32 – making her the most-awarded artist in Recording Academy historical past.