The Grammys — even though it happens every year, seeing the results from the biggest night in music never gets any easier. Whether you’re an avid music fan or a just passing listener, it’s virtually impossible to escape the monsoon of tweets debating who had the best performance, who was the best dressed, and, most importantly, who actually deserved to take home the golden gramophone for Album of the Year.
Though she may have snagged the award for Best Progressive R&B Album, SZA’s smash hit album S.O.S couldn’t secure the coveted accolade, and everyone is rightfully upset. The Academy Voting Members screwed the pooch in many fans’ eyes by giving the award to Taylor Swift for Midnights, making it her fourteenth Grammy and fourth time getting Album of the Year. But who knows, maybe the Swifties stuffed the ballot.
It’s impossible to get into the Voting Members’ minds, but it’s pretty easy to see their track record of robbing our favorite artists of awards that everyone with functioning ears knows they deserve. Lemonade, anyone?
Here are just a few Grammys snubs that completely blew everyone away.
5. “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men (1996)
Dubbed by many music critics as one of the best collaborations in recording history, “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men is the perfect example of artists blending their sounds to make something magical and important. The track, which held the Billboard Hot 100’s number one spot for sixteen consecutive weeks, is also a great example of how the best song of the year doesn’t always get the Grammy for Best Song of the Year.
Mariah’s stellar vocal performance, Boyz 2 Men’s air-tight harmonies, and the heart-touching message about the AIDS epidemic behind the craftily written lyrics sound like Song of the Year material to me. But, it didn’t to the Voting Members in 1996. In fact, even though the song was nominated for six different awards, Mrs. Carey and the boys went home with zilch once the ceremony was over.
4. OK Computer — Radiohead (1998)
If you went to a record store and asked random people what the best album of all time was, you’d be surprised by how many would answer with OK Computer. A truly immersive listening experience, Radiohead’s third studio album opened the doors for a new wave of alternative music with its punchy, grimy production and beautifully eerie vocals by the band’s frontman Thom Yorke.
But beloved songs like “No Surprises” and “Karma Police” just weren’t enough to push the record over the edge for the Grammys picky Voting Members. In their eyes, Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind was more fitting for the 1998 Album of the Year Award, resulting in one of the biggest flops in Grammy history.
3. Back to Black — Amy Winehouse (2007)
In 2007, you couldn’t get into a cab or walk through a mall or go virtually anywhere without hearing Amy Winehouse. Following the success of her smash hit, freshman album Frank, Back to Black invited listeners into the real, unfiltered life of one of the music industry’s saddest success stories. With the help of legendary producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi, Winehouse put her heart on the line and won over millions with her poetically raw lyrics and a killer jazz band backing her up.
Though she had everyone and their mother singing “they tried to make me go to rehab,” Amy didn’t walk away with the Album of the Year Award. But it wasn’t the only standout album that got snubbed that year. One word . . . Graduation.
That’s right, somehow we live in a world where both Back to Black and Ye’s undeniably iconic Graduation were up for Album of the Year, but neither of them one. The award instead went to Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters.
Don’t worry, I’ve never heard of it either.
2. To Pimp a Butterfly — Kendrick Lamar (2016)
Some music lovers, especially hip-hop listeners, would say that this was the biggest snub in Grammys history. When Taylor Swift’s 1989 won album of the year, Twitter was a blaze with thousands of heated comments along the lines of how the Grammys were a complete scam and how Swift must’ve cut some sort of deal with the Voting Members to get the award every year.
It goes without saying that To Pimp Your Butterfly is a masterclass in rap, with critics claiming it as one of the best albums in the genre’s four decades long history. Deeply embedded with poignant messages of the racial inequality and Black pride, Lamar’s third album set the stage for a new, experimental perspective for artists on how they can approach production and how to write a killer bar. With help from big names like Flying Lotus, Pharrel Willams, and Thundercat, the amount of creative genius oozes through the entire hour and thirty minute listen.
To call it essential listening is an understatement, but I guess calling it Album of the Year was just taking it too far for the Grammys.
1. Lemonade — Beyonce (2017)
You know the Beehive was livid whenever Adele walked on stage at the 59th Grammy Awards. Like Jay-Z pointed out during his Dr. Dre Image Award acceptance speech this year, the time for Beyonce to win Album of the Year is long, long overdue. Debates about why the Grammys harbors such a resistance to giving Beyonce her flowers has been going on for quite some time, but it’ll probably never be as heated as seven years ago when she lost to Adele . . . in every single category.
If Lemonade was good enough to get the Peabody Award, probably one of the most prestigious awards an artist could receive, how wasn’t it good enough to take home Album of the Year? While almost everyone can agree that any Adele album is a much-appreciated treat, it was clearly Beyonce’s year.
