Spike Lee has weighed in on the Grammy Awards’ controversial choice to award Harry Types with Album of the 12 months over Beyoncé in a brand new interview.
The outspoken veteran director broached the subject throughout a function 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, nonetheless, “love and assist” the singer.
“Her album [‘Renaissance’] is wonderful,” he mentioned. “I do know she’s gained 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 gained – 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 Greatest Image and Greatest 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 all the time comes right down to this tough territory of validation. Do black artists say ‘Fuck it’, or search white validation and chase awards?”
Though Beyoncé didn’t win Album of the 12 months, she did win a number of awards all through the evening – together with Greatest Dance/Digital Recording (for ‘Break My Soul’), Greatest Dance/Digital Music Album (for ‘Renaissance’), Greatest Conventional R&B Efficiency (for ‘Plastic Off The Couch’) and Greatest R&B Music (for ‘Cuff It’).
With this, Beyoncé’s complete Grammy wins throughout her profession got here to 32 – making her the most-awarded artist in Recording Academy historical past.
