Rebecca Jozwiak | staff writer

“Well, the bottom line is, it’s almost impossible for a Black artist to win Album of the Year. It’s like, how many years do we have to see Beyoncé getting snubbed?”

In a 2020 interview with Entertainment Weekly, John Legend said what many were thinking. After four nominations and four losses, it is more important than ever to recognize Black excellence — specifically Beyoncé Knowles — within the Album of the Year category at the Grammys.

Though she is the most nominated artist at the Grammys, Knowles’ works as a whole are overlooked time after time. In 2008, her third studio album, “I Am… Sasha Fierce” earned Beyoncé her first Album of the Year nod. She would go on to lose to then 19-year-old Taylor Swift’s sophomore album, “Fearless.” After changing the way the industry released and advertised music with her visual self-titled album “Beyoncé,” Knowles would go on to lose the famed category to indie artist Beck and his album, “Morning Phase.”

Beyoncé’s misfortunes continued three years later when her now iconic album “Lemonade” surprisingly lost to Adele’s “21.” Adele would go on to dedicate her win to Beyoncé, calling her album “monumental.”

Her fourth loss came in 2022 against Harry Styles’ third album “Harry’s House.”

As an avid Harry Styles fan, I continue to find the decision made by the Recording Academy to opt for Styles over
Beyoncé fascinating. Beyoncé gave fans a new taste of her style, creating upbeat, energetic music that showcased the Black and LGBTQ+ communities.

“Renaissance’s” lead single, “Break My Soul,” could not have dropped at a better time: Released on June 20, 2022, the song served as an anthem for women who grieved the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which officially happened a mere four days after the song’s release.

The album prided itself in disco dance music, highlighting the groundwork that Black and queer artists laid down years before within the genre. Released as the COVID-19 pandemic began to turn a new page, “Renaissance’s” lyricism explores ideas of expression, liberation and distractions to help listeners deal with the after-effects of the pandemic.

On the other hand, “Harry’s House” was iconic in its own way. The synth-like pop record cemented Styles’ reputation as a heart-throb superstar: His smash-hit single “As It Was” spent 15 weeks at No. 1 while being the best-selling single in 2022.

Other singles, which include “Late Night Talking” and “Satellite” set the table for the rest of Styles’ album, which explores the different “rooms” that are set in Styles’ “house,” giving tribute to the album name as a whole.

This year, things are different: only two men are nominated in the category: Jacob Collier (“Djesse Vol. 4”) and Andre 3000 (“New Blue Sun”). Charli XCX (“brat”), Chappell Roan (“The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess”) and Sabrina Carpenter (“Short n’ Sweet”) received their first ever Artist of the Year nominations.

Taylor Swift (“The Tortured Poets Department”) has the potential to make history yet again. It would be Swift’s fifth time winning the recognition, and was the recipient of the award last year for her tenth studio album “Midnights.” The vast majority covered within these albums emphasize the subjectivity behind the Grammys.

While Charli XCX may not have the same vocal range as Chappell Roan, their respective albums created buzz within the music world in two completely different ways: “Brat” created a cultural firestorm over the summer, giving us the new concept — a “brat summer” — and what it means to be “brat.”

Roan’s album not only showcased her relatable and vocal range, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” is rich in LGBTQ+ elements, documenting Roan’s life going from a closeted, midwestern woman to an out and thriving woman living her dream on the West Coast – which is hyperbolically a whole different world from the Midwest.

Although these are important concepts for the Recording Academy to consider when selecting their Artist of the Year winter, “Cowboy Carter” possesses all the qualities to snatch the award.

The voices of the Black community must be heard — in 2022, jazz and R&B singer Jon Batiste was the first Black artist to win the award, succeeding Herbie Hancock’s “River: The Joni Letters.”

It is essential to be realistic with this decision: Who has been able to seamlessly transition to a dance, house-inspired era into a country era? Beyoncé. After years of putting out music that caters to the R&B sound, Beyoncé has arguably shown her chameleon-like abilities to bridge music genres together that would otherwise be located in two different realms.

While a potential win for Beyoncé would be a major development for the Black community, the album encompasses a beautiful journey of genre-bending that hasn’t been seen in an artist before.