Jay-Z has long been open about his mixed feelings about the Grammys. In his and wife Beyoncé’s 2018 single “Apesh*t,” he famously rapped, “Tell the Grammys, ‘F*ck that 0 for eight sh*t,’” after being nominated eight times that year, but not winning a single award. But still, he will make his impact on the culture known by maintaining a presence at the ceremony each year.
This year, he was super adamant about his wife receiving her much-due flowers. In an interview with Tidal conducted before this year’s Grammys, Jay said he feels that Bey’s seventh studio album, Renaissance was objectively the Album Of The Year.
“Look what it’s done to the culture. Look how the energy of the world moved,” Jay said. “They play her whole album in the club. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that. The whole entire joint — like, everything?! Every remix is amazing. Everyone’s inspired. It has inspired the world. Every remix is better than the other one. From anybody, we’re just finding these joints out in the street.”
Renaissance, however, did not win the coveted Album Of The Year award, but ended up taking home the award for Best Dance/Electronic Album. Songs from the album won several awards — “Break My Soul” for Best Dance/Electronic Recording, “Plastic Off The Sofa” for Best Traditional R&B Performance and “Cuff It” for Best R&B Song.
The aforementioned wins brought her total number of wins up to 32 Grammys throughout her career, making her the artist with the most Grammy awards.