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When Jay-Z took the stage to accept the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award at the 2024 Grammy Awards on Sunday, he had more to say than just “thank you.”
After acknowledging Dr. Dre, who was in the audience, he unapologetically expressed his mind.
Jay started off joking about the gramophone trophy and how in the past, he used it as a “sippy cup” for his daughter Blue Ivy, who joined him onstage Sunday.
He then shouted out rap greats who came before him, like Run DMC, Will Smith & Jazzy Jeff, and thanked the Black Music Collective, the Recording Academy’s hub for all things Black music.
Jay-Z, a 24-time Grammy winner, highlighted moments where Black artists tried to boycott the Grammys but still watched.
“We love y’all, we love y’all. We just want y’all to get it right,” he said.
After pointing out that choosing award winners is “obviously subjective,” the crowd applauded.
“Y’all don’t got to clap at everything,” he told them.
He then slammed the Academy for slighting his wife, Beyoncé, who was also present.
“I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won Album of the Year. So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work,” Jay-Z said.
He went on to add that some artists might walk away feeling “like you’ve been robbed.”
“Some of you don’t belong in the category,” he said, noting, “When I get nervous, I tell the truth.”
Jay then ended by charging everyone to “keep showing up.”
“Forget the Grammys,” he said. “You got to keep showing up until they give you all those accolades you feel you deserve, until they call you chairman, until they call you a genius, until they call you the greatest of all time.”
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